i    FEW    OF    HAMILTON'S    LETTERS 


BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR 

THE    CONQUEROR 

SENATOR  NORTH 

THE  ARISTOCRATS 

PA  TIENCE  SPARHA  WK  AND  HER    TIMES 

AMERICAN   WIVES  AND  ENGLISH  HUSBANDS 

HIS  FORTUNATE   GRACE 

CALIFORNIA   SERIES 

THE  SPLENDID  IDLE  FORTIES 

THE  DOOMS  WOMAN 

THE    VALIANT  RUNAWAYS:  A  BOOK  FOR  BOYS 

A  DAUGHTER   OF  THE    VINE 

THE   CALIFORNIANS 

A    WHIRL  ASUNDER 


A    FEW  OF   HAMILTON'S 
LETTERS 


INCLUDING    HIS    DESCRIPTION    OF 

THE    GREAT   WEST   INDIAN 

HURRICANE    OF    1772 


EDITED   BY 

GERTRUDE   ATHERTON 

AUTHOR   OF   "  THE  CONQUEROR,"    "  THE   SPLENDID   IDLE   FORTIES  " 
ETC.,   ETC. 


WITH  PORTRAITS 


gorfc 
THE   MACMILLAN   COMPANY 

LONDON:  MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  LTD. 
1903 

All  rights  reserved 


COPYRIGHT,  1903, 
BY  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped  February,  1903. 


J.  8.  Cuihing  &  Co.  —  Berwick  &  Smith 
Norwood  Mass.  U.S.A. 


CAPTAIN   WILLIAM    RAMSING 

OF     DENMARK 

anU 
THE   REVEREND   W.    C.   WATSON 

OF   ST.  CROIX,    DANISH   WEST  INDIES 

FROM  WHOM  I   HAVE  RECEIVED  INVALUABLE  HELP 
IN  MY  RESEARCHES 


INTRODUCTION 

HAMILTON'S  entire  correspondence,  exclusive  of 
his  state  papers,  pamphlets,  etc.,  fills  three  octavo 
volumes.  Much  of  it  is  uninteresting  to-day  to 
any  but  a  student  of  the  past,  and  will  never  be 
approached  by  the  general  reader.  Taken  as  a 
whole,  the  letters  form  almost  a  history  of  the  times, 
but  that  history  has  been  written  more  than  once 
in  a  manner  to  require  less  effort  on  the  part  of 
the  temperately  inquiring  mind.  This  selection 
has  been  made  with  a  view  to  throw  as  much  light 
as  possible  on  the  man.  They  reveal  him  in  many 
of  his  moods,  and  although  they  have  not,  in  every 
case,  the  high  literary  quality  peculiar  to  his  great 
reports  and  pamphlets,  a  few,  the  letter  to  Laurens, 
describing  the  capture  and  death  of  Andre,  for 
instance,  could  hardly  be  improved  upon.  The 
letter  to  Duane  is  the  most  remarkable ;  and  even 
by  those  to  whom  at  first  glance  it  may  appear  very 
long  and  very  dry,  it  will  well  repay  a  careful  study, 
—  not  only  because  in  it  a  young^  man  of  twentv- 
three  first  hewed  the  foundation  stones  of  a  great 


viii  INTRODUCTION 

Republic,  but  because  it  throws  many  side-lights  on 
the  workings  of  Hamilton's  mind  and  character. 
In  it,  indeed,  are  to  be  found  indications  of  every 
part  of  the  immediate  and  future  Hamilton,  with 
the  sole  exception  of  that  not  inconsiderable  spot 
which  was  more  than  responsive  to  the  other  sex. 

Those  who  would  fill  in  the  spaces  which  exist 
necessarily  between  the  letters  of  this  little  collec 
tion,  will  find  the  missing  links  in  the  first,  fifth, 
and  sixth  volumes  of  "  The  Works  of  Alexander 
Hamilton,"  J.  C.  Hamilton  edition.  They  are  in 
every  public  library.  Those  so  fortunate  as  to 
possess  the  Lodge  edition  are  not  in  need  of 
instructions. 

The  letters  to  the  Provincial  Congress  are  to  be 
found  in  the  Journal  of  that  body. 

The  letter  to  James  Hamilton,  Jr.,  and  the  cor 
respondence  with  Burr  are  contained  in  the  last 
pages  of  the  "  History  of  the  Republic."  The 
correspondence  of  Washington  with  Hamilton  and 
Jefferson,  regarding  the  battle  in  the  Gazettes 
between  the  Secretaries,  is  copied  from  the  tenth 
volume  of  Sparks'  "Writings  of  George  Wash 
ington." 

The  several  letters  to  Hamilton,  scattered  through 


INTRODUCTION  ix 

this  volume,  are  introduced  for  too  obvious  reasons 
to  require  explanation. 

If  Hamilton  kept  his  love-letters,  some  true 
friend  suppressed  them  after  his  death.  But,  rea 
soning  from  the  well-known  honour  and  wariness 
of  his  character,  it  is  more  than  likely  that  he 
destroyed  all  such  effusions  promptly.  But  where 
are  those  he  himself  wrote  ?  Not  one  to  a  woman 
but  his  wife  has  ever  come  to  light.  Had  they  out 
lasted  him  a  generation  they  would  have  been  bought 
or  stolen  by  his  enemies,  and  flung  to  the  public 
long  since.  Perhaps  he  never  wrote  any.  When 
a  man  has  the  brain  thoroughly  to  appreciate  his 
weakness  for  woman  he  is  often  very  careful  of 
himself  on  paper.  And  Hamilton's  short  life  was  a 
phenomenally  busy  one.  It  is  a  wonder  he  ever 
found  time  to  make  love ;  the  inditing  of  his  sen 
timents  must  surely  have  seemed  superfluous.  But 
his  annual  receipts  must  have  been  heavy. 

The  reviewers  of  "  The  Conqueror  "  have  accused 
me  of  too  much  enthusiasm,  which,  logically,  they 
decide  has  led  to  a  violent  partisanship  and  much 
one-sidedness.  Probably  no  reviewer  living  has 
any  enthusiasm  left  in  him,  —  small  blame  to  him, 
— and  it  is  one  of  the  peculiar  weaknesses  of  human 


x  INTRODUCTION 

nature  to  disapprove  of  what  we  do  not  possess. 
Thus  the  poor  disapprove  of  wealth,  the  timid  of 
audacity,  the  failures  of  success.  A  biography  with 
out  enthusiasm  is  a  very  poor  thing.  You  may  get 
the  bald  facts,  a  calm  dispassionate  estimate,  correct 
if  the  writer  be  infallible ;  but  none  of  the  glow  and 
rush ;  and  without  those  qualities  you  do  not  care 
as  much  for  the  character  and  fate  of  the  subject  as 
for  the  living  and  hitherto  nameless  hero  of  a  news 
paper  story.  To  remark  that  to  do  a  thing  thor 
oughly  is  better  than  to  do  it  halfway,  would  seem  a 
lapse  into  flagrant  platitude,  yet  it  is  a  truism  which 
is  oftenest  forgot  by  critics.  I  wrote  of  Hamilton, 
not  because  I  was  anxious  to  create  a  prodigy,  but 
because  he  was  one  and  compelled  my  enthusiasm. 
That  he  was  the  best  brain  that  has  given  his 
services  to  this  country  no  profound  and  impartial 
student  of  history  pretends  to  deny.  Even  the 
biographers  of  Jefferson  pay  their  tribute.  But 
because  the  great  majority  of  critics  are  unac 
quainted  with  American  history,  they  accuse  me 
of  wrongfully  elevating  Hamilton  at  the  expense 
of  his  contemporaries.  If  he  was  not  greater,  why, 
pray,  did  the  entire  Federalist  party  —  composed  of 
exceptionally  brilliant,  sensible,  and  patriotic  men 


INTRODUCTION  xi 

—  spontaneously  follow  his  lead  for  a  quarter  of  a 
century?  Why  did  his  rivals  hate  him  as  no  man 
has  been  hated  in  the  history  of  this  country? 
The  truth  is  that  I  did  not  exaggerate  in  a  single 
instance,  and,  what  is  more,  I  exhibited  his  faults 
and  weaknesses  with  considerable  pleasure.  No 
man  can  be  either  great  or  lovable  without  them, 
and  had  Hamilton  been  the  dull  perfection  which 
even  the  much  misrepresented  Washington  was 
not,  he  would  have  had  to  pass  on  and  submit 
once  more  to  the  biographer  without  enthusiasm. 

G.  A. 

P.S.  —  Since  writing  the  above,  I  have,  through 
the  kind  offices  of  a  friend,  Captain  William  Ram- 
sing  of  the  Danish  Army,  obtained  a  copy  of  Ham 
ilton's  description  of  the  hurricane  of  August,  1772. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  it  was  this  piece  of  liter 
ary  work,  published  in  a  West  Indian  newspaper, 
which  convinced  his  relatives  and  friends  that  he 
deserved  the  education  he  craved,  and  incidentally 
gave  him  to  us.  Until  Captain  Ramsing  discovered 
it,  it  is  doubtful  if  it  had  been  read  for  a  century 
and  a  quarter.  All  John  Hamilton  knew  was  the 
bare  fact  that  his  father  had  written  it  and  attributed 


xii  INTRODUCTION 

to  its  happy  inspiration  his  real  start  in  life;  he 
made  no  effort  to  find  a  copy  of  the  old  newspaper, 
and  Hamilton  evidently  had  not  preserved  one. 
This  curious  document  is  interesting  and  valuable  in 
many  ways  :  it  is  probably  the  only  existing  descrip 
tion  of  the  greatest  hurricane,  with  the  exception  of 
the  one  of  1899,  which  ever  visited  the  West  In 
dies  ;  it  is  addressed  to  his  father,  which  shows  that 
he  was  in  affectionate  correspondence  with  James 
Hamilton  at  that  time  ;  it  is  the  production  of  a 
youth  of  sixteen ;  and  above  all  it  throws  a  new 
light  on  both  the  workings  of  Hamilton's  mind  and 
the  development  of  his  literary  talent  at  that  age. 
Strange  a  mixture  as  it  is  of  dramatic  power,  a 
somewhat  excessive  piety,  and  literary  self-con 
sciousness,  it  is  a  remarkable  production,  for  it  re 
veals  an  original  mind  striving  to  express  itself 
through  the  trammels  of  certain  standards  and 
formulae  which  he  had  evidently  accepted  as  the 
correct  models  for  the  young  man  of  literary  aspi 
rations.  Fortunately  he  was  not  long  throwing  off 
trammels  of  all  sorts,  with  the  exception  of  the 
temperate  precision  and  clearness  of  the  best  eigh 
teenth-century  literature. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  hurricane  took  place 


INTRODUCTION  xiii 

at  night.     Mine,  alas !  began  in  the  early  morning 

—  and  hailed  from  the  southeast.1     But  there  was 
absolutely  no  authority  to  consult,  and  I  was  obliged 
to  construct  this  almost  forgotten  phenomenon  from 
the  abundant  data  of  the  equally  tremendous  hurri 
cane  of   1899.      Although    I'  knew  that  lightning 
and  thunder  sometimes  accompany  these  great  wind 
storms,  I  omitted  this  manifestation  from   my  de 
scription  lest  I  strain   the  credulity  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  reader,  always  prone  to  scent  exaggeration. 
It  will   now  be   seen   that    I   did   indeed  "  draw  it 
mild,"   for    Hamilton's    hurricane    had    falling    me 
teors,  the  most  terrific  accompaniment  of  lightning 
and  thunder,  and  a  prevailing  smell  of  gunpowder, 

—  which  must,  in  sooth,  have  added  to  the  alarms 
of  the  undevout. 

The  first  two  books  of  "  The  Conqueror,"  as 
stated  in  the  preface  to  that  book,  must  always 
stand  as  imaginative  work  based  upon  the  discovery 
of  a  few  most  important  facts.  But  all  details  had 
to  be  imagined  or  omitted.  I  was  quite  well  aware 
that  if  Hamilton's  description  of  this  hurricane  ever 

1  Where  West  Indian  hurricanes  usually  form.  This  hurricane  of 
1772,  unless  Hamilton  was  mistaken,  probably  formed  in  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico. 


xiv  INTRODUCTION 

came  to  light  it  would  be  in  many  respects  different 
from  mine ;  but  the  searcher  I  employed  in  Copen 
hagen  while  writing  the  book  proves  now  *to  have 
been  worthless,  and  I  had  to  go  ahead  or  ignore  the 
subject.  I  was  not  in  the  least  alarmed  by  the  dan 
ger  of  eventually  disproving  any  description  of  my 
own;  for  he  who  is  afraid  of  making  mistakes  draws 
only  the  small  prizes  of  life.  There  was  no  possi 
bility  of  mistake  after  Hamilton  came  to  this  coun 
try,  for  the  record  of  his  life  from  1772  on  is  as 
open  and  full  as  could  be  wished ;  but  there  is 
undoubtedly  more  and  more  to  learn  in  the  archives 
of  Copenhagen  concerning  those  early  years  on  St. 
Croix ;  and  when  the  search  is  exhausted  I  shall 
give  the  result  to  the  world. 

It  will  also  be  noticed  that  Hamilton's  letter  was 
published  on  St.  Croix.  I  had  it  sent  to  St.  Kitts, 
as  I  was  given  to  understand  that  there  was  no 
English  newspaper  on  St.  Croix  at  that  time.  I 
read  all  the  books  ever  written  on  these  Islands  (in 
English),  but  found  no  mention  of  newspapers. 

Almost  immediately  after  sending  off  the  above 
postscript  to  the  printer  I  received  from  Captain 
Ramsing  information  of  the  most  important  nature. 


INTRODUCTION  xv 

It  corroborates  the  scant  data  I  found  in  the  West 
Indian  records,  and  dispels  conclusively  any  mys 
tery  which  may  still  be  thought  to  surround  Ham 
ilton's  birth.  The  information  is  taken  from  The 
Protocol  of  the  Dealing  Court  in  Christianstadt 
for  the  year  1768.  The  date  is  the  third  of  Au 
gust.  (These  records  of  the  Dealing  Court  are 
in  the  Provincial  Archives  of  Iceland,  —  which  are 
nevertheless  in  Copenhagen.)  Previous  entries  of 
this  year  deal  with  debts  of  Rachael  Lawien,1  de 
ceased  ;  also  the  following :  "  Daniel  Barry  claims 
payment  of  71  rixd.  4  reals,  for  furnishing  linen 
and  black  cloth,  which  he  has  supplied  for  the 
funeral  of  the  Deceased  according  to  Peter  Lytton's 
orders,  who,  being  of  the  family  of  the  Deceased, 
undertook  to  furnish  same." 

The  entry  which  most  concerns  us,  however,  fur 
nishes  the  following  facts :  John  Michael  Lawien 
had  been,  on  St.  Croix,  by  the  "  Ember "  Court,2 
granted  a  divorce  from  Rachael  Lawien  on  the 
25th  of  June,  1759.  He  was  permitted  to  marry 
again,  but  she,  being  the  defendant,  was  not.  At 

1  For  the  orthographic  vagaries  of  this  name,  see  Appendix. 

2  A  clerical  court  which  met  on  the  four  Ember  days.      The  Gov 
ernor-general  of  the  Danish  West  Indies  presided. 


xvi  INTRODUCTION 

her  death  she  possessed  several  slaves  which  she 
left  to  her  sons,  Al/exander  and  James  Hamilton. 
John  Michael  Lawien  made  application  for  these 
slaves  in  behalf  of  her  "  only  lawfully  begotten  heir 
Peter  Lawien."  Peter  Lytton  seems  to  have  been 
appointed  guardian  of  the  young  Hamiltons.  La 
wien  subsequently  won  his  suit. 

One-half  of  Lawien's  divorce  complaint  is  here 
quoted  to  have  been  that  Rachael  "absented  her 
self,"  Le.  deserted  him.  This  bears  out  Hamilton's 
own  statement  that  his  mother  left  Lawien  soon 
after  her  marriage  (because  of  ill-treatment).  There 
is  no  evidence  that  she  was  unfaithful  to  Lawien 
while  under  his  roof,  or  even  that  she  deserted  him 
to  live  with  Hamilton.  It  is  certain  that  she  was 
living  with  her  mother  on  St.  Kitts  in  1756.  This 
fact  is  established  by  the  Common  Records  of 
that  island.  As  she  was  only  thirty-two  when  she 
died  (see  fac-simile  of  page  from  church  register, 
photographed  for  the  present  pastor,  Mr.  Watson), 
she  was  at  this  time  only  twenty,  and  must  have 
been  sixteen  or  less  when  she  married  Lawien. 
We  have  Hamilton's  statement  that  she  was  forced 
into  a  hated  marriage  by  her  mother.  I  based  my 
story  on  Hamilton's  own,  and  it  is  not  likely  that 


INTRODUCTION  xvii 

anything  will  be  found  to  disprove  it.  Hamilton 
appears  to  have  been  a  man  who  told  the  truth 
on  a  given  subject  or  discreetly  held  his  tongue. 
Moreover,  my  own  discoveries  bear  out  all  his 
statements. 

He  and  his  brother  James  evidently  bore  their 
father's  name  from  the  first.  Rachael's  alliance 
with  James  Hamilton  was,  beyond  all  doubt,  an 
accepted  social  fact  in  the  Islands.  Alliances  of 
that  sort  continued  to  bask  in  the  approval  of  tropi 
cal  society  during  many  years  of  the  nineteenth 
century. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

To  EDWARD  STEVENS.     From  St.  Croix 3 

To  TILEMAN  CRUGER.     The  same 4 

To  CAPTAIN  WILLIAM  NEWTON.     The  same      ....  7 

To  THE  PROVINCIAL  CONGRESS n 

To  THE  PROVINCIAL  CONGRESS 14 

FROM  HUGH  KNOX.     St.  Croix 15 

FROM  WASHINGTON.     Concerning  the  mission  to  Gates      .        .  17 

To  WASHINGTON.    The  same 20 

To  GATES.    The  same 25 

To  WASHINGTON.     The  same 27 

To  WASHINGTON.     The  same 32 

To  WASHINGTON.     The  same 35 

FROM  WASHINGTON.    The  same 37 

FROM  HUGH  KNOX.     St.  Croix 38 

To  OTHO  H.  WILLIAMS 42 

FROM  COLONEL  FLEURY    . 42 

FROM  JOHN  LAURENS 43 

FROM  LAURENS 46 

FROM  LAURENS 48 

To  LAURENS 49 

To  LAURENS.    The  Andre  letter 52 

TO   MISS    SCHUYLER 71 

To  Miss  SCHUYLER 73 

To  Miss  SCHUYLER 74 

To  THE  HON.  JAMES  DUANE 77 

To  GENERAL  SCHUYLER 112 

To  MRS.  HAMILTON 117 

FROM  COLONEL  HARRISON                                                 .  121 


xx  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

To  MEADE  125 

To  LAURENS  .  .127 

To  MEADE .129 

To  GREENE.  Containing  the  allusion  to  Peter  Lavine  .  .132 

To  LAFAYETTE .134 

To  JAMES  HAMILTON,  JR 136 

To  MRS.  HAMILTON 138 

FROM  LAFAYETTE .  .  139 

FROM  WASHINGTON  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .140 

To  WASHINGTON 142 

To  LAFAYETTE 147 

FROM  GULIAN  VERPLANCK 150 

To  DUER 151 

FROM  WASHINGTON.  Concerning  the  troubles  in  the  Cabinet  .  152 

To  WASHINGTON.  The  same 155 

JEFFERSON  TO  WASHINGTON.  The  same 160 

FROM  JAMES  HAMILTON 176 

To  - 178 

To  MRS.  GREENE 179 

FROM  M'HENRY  .  . 185 

To  THEODORE  SEDGWICK 186 

To  RUFUS  KING 187 

FROM  EDWARD  STEVENS 189 

FROM  GREENLEAF 190 

To  GREENLEAF 192 

To  OLIVER  WOLCOTT 193 

To  SEDGWICK 194 

To  HAMILTON  OF  GRANGE 196 

FROM  WASHINGTON  . 202 

To  WASHINGTON 203 

To  THE  SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY.  Concerning  Alexander 

Hamilton^  cousin,  Robert  Hamilton 204 

FROM  PICKERING.  Concerning  the  command  of  the  army  in  the 

expected  war  with  France      .         .         .        .         .         .         .  205 


CONTENTS  xxi 

PAGE 

FROM  PICKERING.    The  same 207 

To  WASHINGTON 209 

To  KING 210 

FROM  A.  HAMILTON 212 

FROM  PICKERING 216 

To  PINCKNEY.     Concerning  Washington's  death         .         .         .  217 

To  MRS.  WASHINGTON.    The  same 218 

To  BAYARD.     Concerning  Burr 219 

To  MRS.  HAMILTON 229 

FROM  GOUVERNEUR  MORRIS 229 

To  LAFAYETTE 231 

To  KING 233 

To  WOLCOTT 238 

To  MORRIS 241 

To  C.  C.  PINCKNEY :        .        .  242 

FROM  LAFAYETTE 244 

FROM  GOVERNOR  WALSTERSTORFF.    St.  Croix  ....  246 
To  TALLEYRAND.      Regarding    Hamilton's    cousin,    Alexander 

Hamilton 247 

FROM  BURR.     The  correspondence  before  the  duel     .  .251 

To  BURR.     The  same 251 

FROM  BURR.    The  same 255 

To  BURR.     The  same •  256 

To  SEDGWICK 257 

APPENDIX 

Photograph   of  page  of  Church  Register  of  Christiansted,   St. 

Croix,   D.W.I.,   containing    Interment    Notice    of  Rachael 

Levine  ....  .  facing  260 
Hamilton's  Letter  to  his  Father  describing  the  Great  Hurricane 

of  August,  1772 .261 

Deed  of  Separation  between  John  and  Mary  Fawcett  of  Nevis, 

B.W.I  ;  maternal  grandparents  of  Alexander  Hamilton  .  269 
Doggerel  Verses  popular  after  Hamilton's  death  .  .  .275 


I 

ST.   CROIX 


or  rug   '  X 

MlVCDfM-V^         1 


8SUFOR1 


A  FEW  OF  HAMILTON'S  LETTERS 

To   EDWARD   STEVENS 

ST.  CROIX,  November  11,  1769. 

Dear  Edward,  —  This  serves  to  acknowledge 
the  receipt  of  yours  per  Captain  Lowndes,  which 
was  delivered  me  yesterday.  The  truth  of  Cap 
tain  Lightbowen  and  Lowndes'  information  is 
now  verified  by  the  presence  of  your  father  and 
sister,  for  whose  safe  arrival  I  pray,  and  that  they 
may  convey  that  satisfaction  to  your  soul,  that 
must  naturally  flow  from  the  sight  of  absent 
friends  in  health;  and  shall  for  news  this  way 
refer  you  to  them. 

As  to  what  you  say,  respecting  your  soon  hav 
ing  the  happiness  of  seeing  us  all,  I  wish  for  an 
accomplishment  of  your  hopes,  provided  they  are 
concomitant  with  your  welfare,  otherwise  not ; 
though  doubt  whether  I  shall  be  present  or  not, 
for  to  confess  my  weakness,  Ned,  my  ambition  is 

SO    that    I    COntemn    thp    prrnvpllif^rnn- 

:lerk,  or  the  like,  to  which  my  fortune 

•MM 

3 


4  A   FEW  OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

condemns   me,    and    would   willingly  risk  my  life, 
\/ though   not  my  character,  to  exalt  my  station.     I 
A  am  confident,    Ned,  that   my   youth    excludes   me 
kom  any  hope  of  immediate  preferment,  nor  do  I 
desire   it ;    but    I    mean   to    prepare    the   way    for 
futurity.     I'm    no   philosopher,   you    see,  and    may 
be  justly  said  to  build  castles  in  the  air ;  my  folly 
makes    me   ashamed,   and   beg    you'll   conceal    it ; 
yet,  Neddy,  we  have  seen  such  schemes  success 
ful,  when  the  projector   is  constant.     I   shall  con 
clude  by  saying  I  wish  there  was  a  war. 
I  am,  dear  Edward, 
Yours, 

ALEX.  HAMILTON. 

P.S.  I  this  moment  received  yours  by  William 
Smith,  and  pleased  to  see  you  give  such  close 
application  to  study. 


To   TILEMAN   CRUGER 

ST.  CROIX,  Nov.  16,  1771. 

In  behalf  of  Mr.  Nicolas  Cruger  (who,  by  reason 
of  a  very  ill  state  of  health,  went  from  this  to 
New  York  the  i5th  ult.),  I  have  the  pleasure  to 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  5 

address  you  by  the  long  expected  sloop,  Thunder 
bolt,  Captain  William  Newton,  owned  by  Messrs. 
Jacob  Walton,  John  Harris,  and  Nicolas  Cruger, 
the  latter  of  whom  has  written  you  fully  concern 
ing  her  destination,  which  I  need  not  repeat.  She 
has  on  board  besides  a  parcel  of  lumber  for  your 
self,  sundry  articles  on  account  of  her  owners  as 
per  enclosed  bill  of  lading;  and  when  you  have 
disposed  of  them  you  will  please  to  credit  each 
partner  with  one  third  of  the  proceeds. 

Mr.  N.  Cruger's  proportion  of  this,  and  the  bal 
ance  of  your  account  hitherto,  will  more  than  pay 
for  his  one  third  cost  of  her  first  cargo  up ;  and 
for  the  other  two,  I  shall  endeavour  to  place  value 
in  your  hands  betimes.  I  only  wish  for  a  line 
from  you  to  know  what  will  best  answer. 

Reports  here  represent  matters  in  a  very  dis 
agreeable  light,  with  regard  to  the  Guarda  Costas, 
which  are  said  to  swarm  upon  the  coast ;  but  as 
you  will  be  the  best  judge  of  what  danger  there 
might  be,  all  is  submitted  to  your  prudent  direc 
tion. 

Capt.  Newton  must  arm  with  you,  as  he  could 
not  so  conveniently  do  it  here.  Give  me  leave 
to  hint  to  you  that  you  cannot  be  too  particular 


6  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

in  your  instructions  to  him.  I  think  he  seems  to 
want  experience  in  such  voyages.  Messrs.  Walton 
and  John  H.  Cruger  are  to  furnish  you  themselves 
with  their  respective  proportion  of  the  cost  of  the 
several  cargoes. 

The  staves  on  board,  if  by  any  means  conven 
ient,  I  beg  may  be  returned  by  the  sloop ;  they 
will  command  a  good  price  here,  and  I  suppose 
little  or  nothing  with  you ;  could  they  be  got  at 
I  would  not  send  them  down,  but  they  are  stowed 
promiscuously  among  other  things. 

If  convenient,  please  to  deliver  the  hogsheads, 
now  containing  the  Indian  meal,  to  the  captain 
as  water  casks,  and  others  should  he  want  them. 
I  supplied  him  with  twenty  here.  I  must  beg 
your  reference  to  Mr.  Cruger's  last  letter  of  the 
2d  ult.  for  other  particulars. 

Our  crop  will  be  very  early,  so  that  the  utmost 
dispatch  is  necessary  to  import  three  cargoes  of 
mules  in  due  time. 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 


To   CAPTAIN   WILLIAM   NEWTON 

ST.  CROIX,  Nov.  16,  1771. 

Herewith  I  give  you  all  your  dispatches,  and 
desire  you  will  proceed  immediately  to  Curracoa. 
You  are  to  deliver  your  cargo  there  to  Tileman 
Cruger,  Esq.,  agreeably  to  your  bill  of  lading, 
whose  directions  you  must  follow  in  every  respect 
concerning  the  disposal  of  your  vessel  after  your 
arrival. 

You  know  it  is  intended  that  you  shall  go  from 
thence  to  the  main  for  a  load  of  mules,  and  I 
must  beg  if  you  do,  you'll  be  very  choice  in  the 
quality  of  your  mules,  and  bring  as  many  as  your 
vessel  can  conveniently  contain — by  all  means  take 
in  a  large  supply  of  provender.  Remember,  you 
are  to  make  three  trips  this  season,  and  unless 
you  are  very  diligent  you  will  be  too  late,  as  our 
crops  will  be  early  in.  Take  care  to  avoid  the 
Guarda  Costas.  I  place  an  entire  reliance  upon 
the  prudence  of  your  conduct. 


6  A   FEW  OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

in  your  instructions  to  him.  I  think  he  seems  to 
want  experience  in  such  voyages.  Messrs.  Walton 
and  John  H.  Cruger  are  to  furnish  you  themselves 
with  their  respective  proportion  of  the  cost  of  the 
several  cargoes. 

The  staves  on  board,  if  by  any  means  conven 
ient,  I  beg  may  be  returned  by  the  sloop ;  they 
will  command  a  good  price  here,  and  I  suppose 
little  or  nothing  with  you ;  could  they  be  got  at 
I  would  not  send  them  down,  but  they  are  stowed 
promiscuously  among  other  things. 

If  convenient,  please  to  deliver  the  hogsheads, 
now  containing  the  Indian  meal,  to  the  captain 
as  water  casks,  and  others  should  he  want  them. 
I  supplied  him  with  twenty  here.  I  must  beg 
your  reference  to  Mr,  Cruger's  last  letter  of  the 
2d  ult.  for  other  particulars. 

Our  crop  will  be  very  early,  so  that  the  utmost 
dispatch  is  necessary  to  import  three  cargoes  of 
mules  in  due  time. 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 


To   CAPTAIN   WILLIAM    NEWTON 

ST.  CROIX,  Nov.  16,  1771. 

Herewith  I  give  you  all  your  dispatches,  and 
desire  you  will  proceed  immediately  to  Curracoa. 
You  are  to  deliver  your  cargo  there  to  Tileman 
Cruger,  Esq.,  agreeably  to  your  bill  of  lading, 
whose  directions  you  must  follow  in  every  respect 
concerning  the  disposal  of  your  vessel  after  your 
arrival. 

You  know  it  is  intended  that  you  shall  go  from 
thence  to  the  main  for  a  load  of  mules,  and  I 
must  beg  if  you  do,  you'll  be  very  choice  in  the 
quality  of  your  mules,  and  bring  as  many  as  your 
vessel  can  conveniently  contain — by  all  means  take 
in  a  large  supply  of  provender.  Remember,  you 
are  to  make  three  trips  this  season,  and  unless 
you  are  very  diligent  you  will  be  too  late,  as  our 
crops  will  be  early  in.  Take  care  to  avoid  the 
Guarda  Costas.  I  place  an  entire  reliance  upon 
the  prudence  of  your  conduct. 


II 

THE   ARMY 


A  FEW  OF  HAMILTON'S  LETTERS  n 


To  THE  PROVINCIAL  CONGRESS 

1776. 

Gentlemen,  —  I  take  the  liberty  to  request  your 
attention  to  a  few  particulars  which  will  be  of 
considerable  importance  to  the  future  progress  of 
the  company  under  my  command,  and  I  will  be 
much  obliged  to  you  for  as  speedy  a  determina 
tion  concerning  them  as  you  can  conveniently 
give.  The  most  material  is  respecting  the  pay. 
Our  company,  by  their  articles,  are  to  be  subject 
to  the  same  regulations,  and  to  receive  the  same 
pay  as  the  Continental  artillery.  Hitherto  I  have 
conformed  to  the  standard  laid  down  in  the 
Journal  of  the  Congress  published  the  loth  May, 
1775,  but  I  am  well  informed,  that  by  some  later 
regulation,  the  pay  of  the  artillery  has  been  aug 
mented,  and  now  stands  according  to  the  follow 
ing  rates:  captains  £10.  13.  4;  captain-lieutenants 
,£8 ;  lieutenants  each,  £j.  6.  8 ;  sergeants,  ^3.  6.  8 ; 
corporals,  ^3.  i.  4;  bombardiers,  ^3.  i.  4;  gun 
ners*  £>$ ;  matrosses,  £2.  7.  4 ;  drummers  and 
fifers,  ^3.  By  comparing  these  with  my  pay 
rolls,  you  will  discover  a  considerable  difference, 


12  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

and  I  doubt  not  you  will  be  easily  sensible  that 
such  a  difference  should  not  exist.  I  am  not 
personally  interested  in  having  an  augmentation 
agreeable  to  the  above  rates,  because  my  own 
pay  will  remain  the  same  that  it  now  is ;  but  I 
make  this  application  on  behalf  of  the  company, 
as  I  am  fully  convinced  such  a  disadvantageous 
distinction  will  have  a  very  pernicious  effect  on 
the  minds  and  behaviour  of  the  men.  They  do 
the  same  duty  with  the  other  companies,  and 
think  themselves  entitled  to  the  same  pay.  They 
have  been  already  comparing  accounts,  and  many 
marks  of  discontent  have  lately  appeared  on  this 
score.  As  to  the  circumstance  of  our  being  con 
fined  to  the  defence  of  the  colony,  it  will  have 
little  or  no  weight,  for  there  are  but  few  in  the 
company  who  would  not  as  willingly  leave  the 
colony  on  any  necessary  expedition  as  stay  in  it ; 
and  they  will  not  therefore  think  it  reasonable 
to  have  their  pay  curtailed  on  such  a  considera 
tion. 

Captain  Beauman,  I  understand,  enlists  all  his 
men  on  the  above  terms,  and  this  makes  it  very 
difficult  for  me  to  get  a  single  recruit,  for  men 
will  naturally  go  to  those  who  pay  them  bgst.  On 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  13 

this  account  I  should  wish  to  be  immediately 
authorized  to  offer  the  same  pay  to  all  who  may 
be  inclined  to  enlist. 

The  next  thing  I  should  wish  to  know  is, 
whether  I  might  be  allowed  any  actual  expenses 
that  might  attend  the  enlistment  of  men,  should 
I  send  into  the  country  for  that  purpose ;  the 
expense  would  not  be  great  and  it  would  enable 
me  to  complete  my  company  at  once,  and  bring 
it  the  sooner  into  proper  order  and  discipline. 
Also,  I  should  be  glad  to  be  informed  if  my 
company  is  to  be  allowed  the  frock  which  is  given 
to  the  other  troops  as  a  bounty.  This  frock  would 
be  extremely  serviceable  in  summer  while  the  men 
are  on  fatigue,  and  would  put  it  in  their  power  to 
save  their  uniform  much  longer. 

I  am,  gentlemen,  with  the  greatest  respect, 
Your  most  obedient  servant 

A.  HAMILTON,  Captain. 


14  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 


To   THE   PROVINCIAL   CONGRESS 

July  26,  1776. 

Gentlemen,  —  I  am  obliged  to  write  you,  to  re 
move  a  difficulty  which  arises  respecting  the 
quantity  of  subsistence  which  is  to  be  allowed  my 
men.  Enclosed  you  will  have  the  rate  of  rations 
which  is  the  standard  allowance  of  the  whole 
Continental  and  even  the  Provincial  army,  but  it 
seems  Mr.  Curtenius  cannot  afford  to  supply  us 
with  more  than  his  contract  stipulates,  which  by 
comparison,  you  will  find  is  considerably  less  than 
the  forementioned  rate.  My  men,  you  are  sensi 
ble,  are  by  their  articles,  entitled  to  the  same  sub 
sistence  with  the  Continental  troops ;  and  it  would 
be  to  them  an  insupportable  discrimination,  as  well 
as  a  breach  of  the  terms  of  their  enlistment,  to  give 
them  almost  a  third  less  provisions  than  the  whole 
army  besides  receives.  I  doubt  not  you  will  readily 
put  this  matter  upon  a  proper  footing.  Hitherto, 
we  have  drawn  our  full  allowance  from  Mr.  Cur 
tenius,  but  he  did  it  upon  the  supposition  that  he 
should  have  a  farther  consideration  for  the  extra- 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  15 

ordinary  supply.  At  present,  however,  he  scruples 
to  proceed  in  the  same  way,  until  he  can  be  put 
upon  a  more  certain  foundation. 


FROM    HUGH    KNOX 

ST.  CROIX,  April  31,  1777. 

My  Dear  Friend,  —  A  pretty  fair  opportunity 
just  offering  for  Philadelphia,  I  could  not  omit 
acknowledging  the  receipt  of  your  very  circum 
stantial  and  satisfactory  letter  of  the  I4th  February. 
The  thing  has  happened  which  I  wished  for.  We 
have  been  amazed  here  by  vague,  imperfect,  and 
very  false  accounts  of  matters  from  the  continent : 
and  I  always  told  my  friends,  that  if  you  survived 
the  campaign,  and  had  an  hour  of  leisure  to  write 
to  me,  I  expected  a  more  true,  circumstantial,  and 
satisfactory  account  of  matters  in  your  letter,  than 
by  all  the  public  papers  and  private  intelligence 
we  have  received  here.  I  have  but  a  moment  to 
command  at  present,  and  have  not  time  to  remark 
upon  your  letter.  I  can  only  inform  you,  that  it 
has  given  high  satisfaction  to  all  friends  here.  We 
rejoice  in  your  good  character  and  advancement, 


16  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

which  is,  indeed,  only  the  just  reward  of  merit. 
May  you  still  live  to  deserve  more  and  more  from 
the  friends  of  America,  and  to  justify  the  choice, 
and  merit  the  approbation,  of  the  GREAT  AND 
GOOD  GENERAL  WASHINGTON  —  a  name  which  will 
shine  with  distinguished  lustre  in  the  annals  of 
history  —  a  name  dear  to  the  friends  of  the 
Liberties  of  Mankind !  Mark  this :  You  must 
be  the  Annalist  and  Biographer,  as  well  as  the 
Aide-de-camp,  of  General  Washington  —  and  the 
Historiographer  of  the  AMERICAN  WAR!  I  take 
the  liberty  to  insist  on  this.  I  hope  you  take 
minutes  and  keep  a  Journal !  If  you  have  not 
hitherto,  I  pray  do  it  henceforth.  I  seriously,  and 
with  all  my  little  influence,  urge  this  upon  you. 
This  may  be  a  new  and  strange  thought  to  you; 
but  if  you  survive  the  present  troubles,  /  aver — 
few  men  will  be  as  well  qualified  to  write  the  his 
tory  of  the  present  glorious  struggle.  God  only 
knows  how  it  may  terminate.  But  however  that 
may  be,  it  will  be  a  most  interesting  story. 

I  congratulate  you  on  your  recovery  from  a  long 
and  dangerous  illness.  It  is  my  own  case  —  I  am 
just  convalescent,  after  the  severest  attack  I  ever 
had  in  my  life.  I  hope  to  write  you  more  at  large 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  17 

soon,  and  remain,  with  the  tender  of  every  kind  of 
friendly  wish, 

My  dear  Sir, 

Your  affectionate  servant 

HUGH  KNOX. 


FROM   WASHINGTON 
(LETTER  OF  INSTRUCTIONS) 

HEADQUARTERS,  PHILADELPHIA  Co.  30th  Oct.  1777. 

Dear  Sir,  —  It  having  been  judged  expedient  by 
a  council  of  war  held  yesterday,  that  one  of  the 
gentlemen  of  my  family  should  be  sent  to  General 
Gates,  in  order  to  lay  before  him  the  state  of  this 
army  and  the  situation  of  the  enemy,  and  to  point 
out  to  him  the  many  happy  consequences  that  will 
accrue  from  an  immediate  reinforcement  being  sent 
from  the  northern  army,  I  have  thought  it  proper  to 
appoint  you  to  that  duty,  and  desire  that  you  will 
immediately  set  out  for  Albany,  at  which  place,  or 
in  the  neighbourhood,  I  imagine  you  will  find  Gen 
eral  Gates. 

You  are  so  fully  acquainted  with  the  principal 
points  on  which  you  are  sent,  namely,  the  state  of 


i8  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

our  army  and  the  situation  of  the  enemy,  that  I 
shall  not  enlarge  on  those  heads.  What  you  are 
chiefly  to  attend  to,  is  to  point  out  in  the  clearest 
and  fullest  manner  to  General  Gates,  the  absolute 
necessity  that  there  is  for  his  detaching  a  very  con 
siderable  part  of  the  army  at  present  under  his~com- 
mand  to  the  reinfoTcementiaL-this ;  Qr-mSaSrrre  that 
will  in  all  probability  reduce  General  Howe  to  the 
same  situation  in  which  General  Burgoyne  now  is, 
should  he  attempt  to  remain  in  Philadelphia  with 
out  being  able  to  remove  the  obstructions  in  the 
Delaware,  and  open  a  free  communication  with  his 
shipping.  The  force  which  the  members  of  the 
council  of  war  judge  it  safe  and  expedient  to  draw 
down  at  present,  are  the  three  New- Hampshire  and 
fifteen  Massachusetts  regiments,  with  Lee's  and 
Jackson's  two  of  the  sixteen,  additional.  But  it  is 
more  than  probable  that  General  Gates  may  have 
detained  part  of  those  troops  to  the  reduction  of 
Ticonderoga,  should  the  enemy  not  have  evacuated 
it,  or  to  the  garrisoning  of  it.  If  they  should,  in 
that  case  the  reinforcement  will  be  according  to 
circumstances ;  but,  if  possible,  let  it  be  made  up  to 
the  same  number  out  of  other  corps.  If  upon  your 
meeting  with  General  Gates,  you  should  find  that 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  19 

he  intends,  in  consequence  of  his  success,  to  employ 
the  troops  under  his  command  upon  some  expedi 
tion,  by  the  prosecution  of  which  the  common 
cause  will  be  more  benefited  than  by  their  being 
sent  down  to  reinforce  this  army,  it  is  not  my  wish 
to  give  any  interruption  to  the  plan.  But  if  he 
should  have  nothing  more  in  contemplation  than 
those  particular  objects  which  I  have  mentioned  to 
you,  and  which  it  is  unnecessary  to  commit  to 
paper,  in  that  case  you  are  to  inform  him  that  it  is 
my  desire  that  the  reinforcements  before  mentioned, 
or  such  part  of  them  as  can  be  safely  spared,  be 
immediately  put  in  motion  to  join  the  army. 

I  have  understood  that  General  Gates  has 
already  detached  Nixon's  and  Glover's  brigades  to 
join  General  Putnam,  and  General  Dickinson 
informs  me,  Sir  Henry  Clinton  has  come  down  the 
river  with  his  whole  force ;  if  this  be  a  fact,  you  are 
to  desire  General  Putnam  to  send  the  two  brigades 
forward  with  the  greatest  expedition,  as  there  can 
be  no  occasion  for  them  there. 

I  expect  you  will  meet  Colonel  Morgan's  corps 
upon  their  way  down;  if  you  do,  let  them  know 
how  essential  their  services  are  to  us,  and  desire 
the  Colonel  or  commanding  officer  to  hasten  their 


20  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

march  as  much  as  is  consistent  with  the  health  of 

the  men  after  their  late  fatigues. 

G.  W. 

P.S.  I  ordered  the  detachment  belonging  to 
General  McDougal's  division  to  come  forward.  If 
you  meet  them,  direct  those  belonging  to  Greene's, 
Angel's,  Chandler's,  and  Duryee's  regiments  not  to 
cross  Delaware,  but  to  proceed  to  Red  Bank. 

To  WASHINGTON 

ALBANY,  November,  1777. 

Dear  Sir,  —  I  arrived  here  yesterday  at  noon, 
and  waited  upon  General  Gates  immediately,  on 
the  business  of  my  mission ;  but  was  sorry  to  find 
that  his  ideas  did  not  correspond  with  yours,  for 
drawing  off  the  number  of  troops  you  directed.  I 
used  every  argument  in  my  power,  to  convince  him 
of  the  propriety  of  the  measure ;  but  he  was  inflex 
ible  in  the  opinion  that  two  brigades  at  least,  of 
continental  troops,  should  remain  in  and  near  this 
place.  His  reasons  were  that  the  intelligence  of 
Sir  Henry  Clinton's  having  gone  to  join  Howe, 
was  not  sufficiently  authenticated  to  put  it  out  of 
doubt;  that  there  was,  therefore,  a  possibility  of 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  21 

his  returning  up  the  river,  which  might  expose  the 
finest  arsenal  in  America  (as  he  calls  the  one  here) 
to  destruction,  should  this  place  be  left  so  bare  of 
troops  as  I  proposed ;  and  that  the  want  of  con 
veniences,  and  the  difficulties  of  the  roads,  would 
make  it  impossible  to  remove  artillery  and  stores 
for  a  considerable  time ;  that  the  New  England 
States  would  be  left  open  to  the  depredations  and 
ravages  of  the  enemy ;  that  it  would  put  it  out  of 
his  power  to  enterprise  anything  against  Ticonde- 
roga,  which  he  thinks  might  be  done  in  the  winter, 
and  which  he  considers  it  of  importance  to  under 
take. 

The  force  of  these  reasons  did  by  no  means 
strike  me  ;  and  I  did  everything  in  my  power  to 
show  they  were  unsubstantial :  but  all  I  could  effect 
was  to  have  one  brigade  dispatched,  in  addition  to 
those  already  marched.  I  found  myself  infinitely 
embarrassed,  and  was  at  a  loss  how  to  act.  I  felt 
the  importance  of  strengthening  you  as  much  as 
possible:  but  on  the  other  hand  I  found  insuper 
able  inconveniences,  in  acting  diametrically  opposite 
to  the  opinion  of  a  gentleman  whose  successes  have 
raised  him  to  the  highest  importance.  General 
Gates  has  won  the  entire  confidence  of  the  Eastern 


24  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

militia  collected,  —  and  that  may  be  collected  here, 
—  will  be  sufficient,  in  the  Highlands,  for  covering 
the  country  down  that  way,  and  carrying  on  the 
works  necessary  to  be  raised  for  the  defence  of  the 
river. 

The  troops  gone,  and  going,  to  reinforce  you,  are 
near  five  thousand  rank  and  file,  continental  troops ; 
and  two  thousand  five  hundred  Massachusetts  and 
New  Hampshire  militia.  These,  and  the  seven 
hundred  Jersey  militia,  will  be  a  larger  reinforce 
ment  than  you  expected,  though  not  quite  an  equal 
number  of  continental  troops ;  nor  exactly  in  the 
way  directed.  General  Lincoln  tells  me,  the  militia 
are  very  excellent;  and  though  their  time  will  be 
out  by  the  last  of  this  month,  you  will  be  able,  if 
you  think  proper,  to  order  the  troops  still  remaining 
here  to  join  you  by  the  time  their  term  of  service 
expires. 

I  cannot  forbear  being  uneasy,  lest  my  conduct 
should  prove  displeasing  to  you ;  but  I  have  done 
what,  considering  all  circumstances,  appeared  to  me 
most  eligible  and  prudent. 

Vessels  are  preparing  to  carry  the  brigade  to 
New  Windsor,  which  will  embark  this  evening.  I 
shall,  this  afternoon,  set  out  on  my  return  to  camp ; 


A  FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  25 

and  on    my   way,    shall    endeavour   to   hasten   the 
troops  forward. 

I  have  the  honour  to  be, 

With  great  esteem  and  respect, 

Your  Excellency's  most  ob't, 

ALEX.  HAMILTON. 

To  GATES 

ALBANY,  November  5,  1777. 

Sir,  —  By  inquiry,  I  have  learned  that  General 
Patterson's  brigade,  which  is  the  one  you  propose 
to  send,  is  by  far  the  weakest  of  the  three  now  here, 
and  does  not  consist  of  more  than  about  six  hun 
dred  rank  and  file  fit  for  duty.  It  is  true,  that 
there  is  a  militia  regiment  with  it  of  about  two  hun 
dred  ;  but  the  time  of  service  for  which  this  regi 
ment  is  engaged,  is  so  near  expiring,  that  it  would 
be  past  by  the  time  the  men  could  arrive  at  their 
destination. 

Under  these  circumstances,  I  cannot  consider  it 
either  as  compatible  with  the  good  of  the  service, 
or  my  instructions  from  His  Excellency,  General 
Washington,  to  consent  that  that  brigade  be 
selected  from  the  three  to  go  to  him ;  but  I  am 


26  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

under  the  necessity  of  desiring,  by  virtue  of  my 
orders  from  him,  that  one  of  the  others  be  substi 
tuted  instead  of  this ;  either  General  Nixon's  or 
General  Glover's ;  and  that  you  will  be  pleased  to 
give  immediate  orders  for  its  embarkation. 

Knowing  that  General  Washington  wished  me 
to  pay  the  greatest  deference  to  your  judgment, 
I  ventured  so  far  to  deviate  from  the  instructions 
he  gave  me,  as  to  consent,  in  compliance  with  your 
opinion,  that  two  brigades  should  remain  here, 
instead  of  one.  At  the  same  time,  permit  me  to 
observe,  that  I  am  not  myself  sensible  of  the 
expediency  of  keeping  more  than  one,  with  the 
detached  regiments  in  the  neighbourhood  of  this 
place ;  and  that  my  ideas  coincide  with  those  gen 
tlemen  whom  I  have  consulted  on  the  occasion, 
whose  judgment  I  have  much  more  reliance  upon 
than  on  my  own,  and  who  must  be  supposed  to  have 
a  thorough  knowledge  of  all  the  circumstances. 
Their  opinion  is,  that  one  brigade,  and  the  regi 
ments  before  mentioned,  would  amply  answer  the 
purposes  of  this  post.  When  I  preferred  your 
opinion  to  other  considerations,  I  did  not  imagine 
you  would  pitch  upon  a  brigade  little  more  than 
half  as  large  as  the  others:  and  finding  this  to  be 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  27 

the  case,  I  indispensably  owe  it  to  my  duty,  to 
desire,  in  His  Excellency's  name,  that  another  may 
go  instead  of  the  one  intended,  and  without  loss  of 
time.  As  it  may  be  conducive  to  dispatch  to  send 
Glover's  brigade,  if  agreeable  to  you,  you  will  give 
orders  accordingly. 

I  have  the  honour  to  be, 

With  respect  and  esteem, 

Sir,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

A.  HAMILTON. 


To  WASHINGTON 

NEW  WINDSOR,  November  loth,  1777. 

Dear  Sir,  —  I  arrived  here  last  night  from 
Albany.  Having  given  General  Gates  a  little 
time  to  recollect  himself,  I  renewed  my  remon 
strances  on  the  necessity  and  propriety  of  send 
ing  you  more  than  one  brigade  of  the  three  he 
had  detained  with  him ;  and  finally  prevailed  upon 
him  to  give  orders  for  Glover's  in  addition  to 
Patterson's  brigade,  to  march  this  way. 

As  it  was  thought  conducive  to  expedition,  to  send 
the  troops  by  water,  as  far  as  it  could  be  done,  I  pro 
cured  all  the  vessels  that  could  be  had  at  Albany, 


28  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

fit  for  the  purpose ;  but  could  not  get  more  than 
sufficient  to  take  Patterson's  brigade.  It  was 
embarked  the  seventh  instant;  but  the  wind  has 
been  contrary :  they  must  probably  be  here  to-day. 
General  Glover's  brigade  marched  at  the  same 
time,  on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  the  roads  being 
much  better  than  on  this  side.  I  am  at  this 
moment  informed,  that  one  sloop,  with  a  part  of 
Patterson's,  has  arrived,  and  that  the  others  are  in 
sight.  They  will  immediately  proceed,  by  water,  to 
King's  Ferry,  and  thence  take  the  shortest  route. 

I  am  pained  beyond  expression  to  inform  your 
Excellency,  that  on  my  arrival  here,  I  find  every 
thing  has  been  neglected  and  deranged  by  Gen 
eral  Putnamj]  and  that  the  two  brigades,  Poor's 
and  Learned's,  still  remain  here  and  on  the  other 
side  of  the  river  at  Fishkill.  Colonel  Warner's 
militia,  I  am  told,  have  been  withdrawn  to  Peekskill, 
to  aid  in  an  expedition  against  New- York,  which, 
it  seems,  is,  at  this  time,  the  hobby-horse  with  Gen 
eral  Putnam.  Not  the  least  attention  has  been 
paid  to  my  order,  in  your  name,  for  a  detachment 
of  one  thousand  men  from  the  troops  hitherto 
stationed  at  this  post.  Everything  is  sacrificed  to 
the  whim  of  taking  New-York. 


V  SfTY    1 

A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  29 

The  two  brigades  of  Poor  and  Learned,  it 
appears,  would  not  march  for  want  of  money  and 
necessaries ;  several  of  the  regiments  having 
received  no  pay  for  six  or  eight  months  past. 
There  has  been  a  high  mutiny  among  the  former 
on  this  account,  in  which  a  captain  killed  a  man, 
and  was  himself  shot  by  his  comrade.  These 
y  difficulties,  for  want  of  proper  management,  have 
\stopped  the  troops  from  proceeding.  Governor 
1  Clinton  has  been  the  only  man  who  has  done 
anything  toward  removing  them ;  but  for  want  of 
General  Putnam's  cooperation  has  not  been  able  to 
effect  it.  He  has  only  been  able  to  prevail  with 
Learned's  brigade,  to  agree  to  march  to  Goshen ;  in 
hopes,  by  getting  them  once  on  the  go,  to  induce 
them  to  continue  their  march.  On  coming  here, 
I  immediately  sent  for  Colonel  Bailey,  who  now 
commands  Learned's  brigade,  and  persuaded  him 
to  engage  to  carry  the  brigade  on  to  headquarters 
as  fast  as  possible.  This  he  expects  to  effect  by 
means  of  five  or  six  thousand  dollars,  which  Gov 
ernor  Clinton  was  kind  enough  to  borrow  for  me, 
and  which  Colonel  Bailey  thinks  will  keep  the 
men  in  good  humour  till  they  join  you.  They 
marched  this  morning  towards  Goshen. 


3o  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

I  shall,  as  soon  as  possible,  see  General  Poor,  and 
do  everything  in  my  power  to  get  him  along;  and 
hope  I  shall  be  able  to  succeed. 

The  plan  I  before  laid,  having  been  totally 
deranged,  a  new  one  has  become  necessary.  It  is 
now  too  late  to  send  Warner's  militia ;  by  the 
time  they  reached  you  their  term  of  service  would 
be  out.  The  motive  for  sending  them,  which  was 
to  give  you  a  speedy  reinforcement,  has,  by  the 
past  delay,  been  superseded. 

By  Governor  Clinton's  advice,  I  have  sent  out 
an  order,  in  the  most  emphatical  terms,  to  General 
Putnam,  immediately  to  dispatch  all  the  continental 
troops  under  him  to  your  assistance ;  and  to  detain 
the  militia  instead  of  them. 

My  opinion  is,  that  the  only  present  use  for 
troops  in  this  quarter,  is  to  protect  the  country 
from  the  depredations  of  little  plundering  parties ; 
and  for  carrying  on  the  works  necessary  for  the 
defence  of  the  river.  Nothing  more  ought  to  be 
thought  of.  'Tis  only  wasting  time,  and  misapply 
ing  men,  to  employ  them  in  a  suicidal  parade  against 
New- York:  for  in  this  it  will  undoubtedly  termi 
nate.  New- York  is  no  object,  if  it  could  be  taken : 
and  to  take  it,  would  require  more  men  than  can  be 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  31 

spared  from  more  substantial  purposes.  Governor 
Clinton's  ideas  coincide  with  mine.  He  thinks 
that  there  is  no  need  of  more  continental  troops 
here,  than  a  few  to  give  a  spur  to  the  militia  in 
working  upon  the  fortifications.  In  pursuance  of 
this,  I  have  given  the  directions  before  mentioned. 
If  General  Putnam  attends  to  them,  the  troops 
under  him  may  be  with  you  nearly  as  early  as  any 
of  the  others  (though  he  has,  unluckily,  marched 
them  down  to  Tarrytown) ;  and  General  Glover's 
brigade  when  it  gets  up,  will  be  more  than  sufficient 
to  answer  the  true  end  of  this  post. 

If  your  Excellency  agrees  with  me  in  opinion,  it 
will  be  well  to  send  instant  directions  to  General 
Putnam,  to  pursue  the  object  I  have  mentioned :  for 
I  doubt  whether  he  will  attend  to  anything  I  shall 
say,  notwithstanding  it  comes  in  the  shape  of  a 
positive  order.  I  fear,  unless  you  interpose,  the 
works  here  will  go  on  so  feebly,  for  want  of  men, 
that  they  will  not  be  completed  in  time :  whereas, 
it  appears  to  me  of  the  greatest  importance  they 
should  be  pushed  with  the  utmost  vigour.  Gov 
ernor  Clinton  will  do  everything  in  his  power.  I  \ 
wish  General  Putnam  was  recalled  from  the  com 
mand  of  this  post,  and  Governor  Clinton  would  J 


32  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

accept  it :  the  blunders  and  caprices  of  the  former 
v  are  endless.  Believe  me,  Sir,  nobody  can  be  more 
impressed  with  the  importance  of  forwarding  the 
reinforcements  coming  to  you,  with  all  speed ;  nor 
could  anyone  have  endeavoured  to  promote  it  more 
than  I  have  done :  /but  the  ignorance  of  some  and 
the  design  of  others,  have  been  almost  insuperable 
obstacles,  (j  I  am  very  unwell ;  but  I  shall  not  spare 
myself  to  get  things  immediately  in  a  proper  train ; 
and  for  that  purpose  intend,  unless  I  receive  other 
orders  from  you,  to  continue  with  the  troops  in  the 
progress  of  their  march.  As  soon  as  I  get  General 
Poor's  brigade  in  march,  I  shall  proceed  to  General 
Putnam's  at  Peekskill. 


To  WASHINGTON 

NEW  WINDSOR,  November  12,  1777. 

Dear  Sir, —  I  have  been  detained  here  these 
two  days  by  a  fever,  and  violent  rheumatic  pains 
throughout  my  body.  This  has  prevented  my 
being  active,  in  person,  for  promoting  the  purposes 
of  my  errand ;  but  I  have  taken  every  other  method 
in  my  power,  in  which  Governor  Clinton  has  oblig 
ingly  given  me  all  the  aid  he  could.  In  answer 


A  FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  33 

to  my  pressing  application  to  General  Poor,  for 
the  immediate  marching  of  his  brigade,  I  was  told 
they  were  under  an  operation  for  the  itch ;  which 
made  it  impossible  for  them  to  proceed  till  the 
effects  of  it  were  over.  By  a  letter,  however,  of 
yesterday,  General  Poor  informs  me,  he  would  cer 
tainly  march  this  morning.  I  must  do  him  the 
justice  to  say,  he  appears  solicitous  to  join  you ; 
and  that  I  believe  the  past  delay  is  not  owing 
to  any  fault  of  his,  but  is  wholly  chargeable  on 
General  Putnam.  I  Indeed,  Sir,  I  owe  it  to  the 
service  to  say,  that  every  part  of  this  gentleman's 
conduct  is  marked  with  blunder  and  negligence, 
and  gives  general  disgust.  ] 

Parson's  brigade  will  join  you,  I  hope,  in  five 
or  six  days  from  this.  Learned's  may  do  the  same. 
Poor's  will,  I  am  persuaded,  make  all  the  haste 
they  can  for  the  future.  And  Glover's  may  be 
expected  at  Fishkill  to-night;  whence  they  will 
be  pressed  forward  as  fast  as  I  can  have  any  in 
fluence  to  make  them  go.  But  I  am  sorry  to  say, 
the  disposition  for  marching,  in  the  officers  and 
men  in  general,  of  these  troops,  does  not  keep  pace 
with  my  wishes,  or  the  exigency  of  the  occasion. 
They  have,  unfortunately,  imbibed  an  idea,  that 


34  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

they  have  done  their  part  of  the  business  of  the 
campaign,  and  are  now  entitled  to  repose.  This, 
and  the  want  of  pay,  make  them  averse  to  a  long 
march  at  this  advanced  season. 

In  a  letter  from  General  Putnam,  just  now  re 
ceived  by  Governor  Clinton,  he  appears  to  have 
been,  the  tenth  instant,  at  King's  Street,  at  the 
White  Plains.  I  have  had  no  answer  to  my  last 
applications.  The  enemy  appear  to  have  stripped 
New- York  very  bare.  The  people  there,  that  is, 
the  Tories,  are  in  a  great  fright :  this  adds  to  my 
anxiety,  that  the  reinforcements  from  this  quarter 
to  you  are  not  in  greater  forwardness  and  more 
considerable. 

I  have  written  to  General  Gates,  informing  him 
of  the  accounts  of  the  situation  of  New- York  with 
respect  to  troops,  and  the  probability  of  the  force 
gone  to  Howe  being  greater  than  was  at  first 
expected  ;  to  try  if  this  will  not  extort  from  him 
a  further  reinforcement.  I  don't,  however,  expect 
much  from  him ;  as  he  pretends  to  have  in  view 
an  expedition  against  Ticonderoga,  to  be  under 
taken  in  the  winter :  and  he  knows  that,  under  the 
sanction  of  this  idea,  he  may,  without  censure, 
retain  the  troops.  And  as  I  shall  be  under  a 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  35 

necessity  of  speaking  plainly  to  your  Excellency, 
when  I  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you,  I  shall  not 
hesitate  to  say,  I  doubt  whether  you  would  have 
had  a  man  from  the  northern  army,  if  the  whole 
could  have  been  kept  at  Albany  with  any  decency. 
pi  yrm  will  tbH-  *  1  1  •  i  1  1[l  ••  - 


exercised  the  powers  you  gave  me,  and  given  a 
positive  order.  Perhaps  I  —  ha,ve  beeir~so  :  but, 
deliberately  weighing  all  circumstances,  I  did  not, 
and  do  not,  think  it  advisable  to  do  it. 

I  am,  &c. 

To  WASHINGTON 

PEEKSKILL,  Nov.  15,  1777. 

Dear  Sir,  —  I  arrived  at  this  place  last  night, 
and  unfortunately  find  myself  unable  to  proceed 
any  further.  Imagining  I  had  gotten  the  better 
of  my  complaint,  which  confined  me  at  Governor 
Clinton's  and  anxious  to  be  about  attending  to 
the  march  of  the  troops,  the  day  before  yesterday 
I  crossed  the  ferry,  in  order  to  fall  in  with  General 
Glover's  brigade,  which  was  on  its  march  from 
Poughkeepsie  to  Fishkill.  I  did  not,  however, 
see  it  myself,  but  received  a  letter  from  Colonel 
Shepherd,  who  commands  the  frigate,  informing  me 


36  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

i 

he  would  be  last  night  at  Fishkill,  and  this  night 
at  King's  Ferry.  Wagons,  &c.,  are  provided  on 
the  other  side  for  his  accommodation ;  so  that  there 
need  be  no  delay  but  what  is  voluntary;  and  I 
believe  Colonel  Shepherd  is  as  well  disposed  as 
could  be  wished  to  hasten  his  march.  General 
Poor's  brigade  crossed  the  ferry  the  day  before 
yesterday.  Two  York  regiments,  Courtland's  and 
Livingston's,  are  with  them:  they  were  unwilling 
to  be  separated  from  the  brigade,  and  the  brigade 
from  them.  General  Putnam  was  unwilling  to 
keep  them  with  him:  and  if  he  had  consented  to 
do  it,  the  regiments  to  displace  them  would  not 
join  you  six  days  as  soon  as  these.  The  troops 
now  remaining  with  General  Putnam  will  amount 
to  about  the  number  you  intended,  though  they  are 
not  exactly  the  same.  He  has  detached  Colonel 
Charles  Webb's  regiment  to  you.  He  says  the 
troops  with  him  are  not  in  a  condition  to  march, 
being  destitute  of  shoes,  stockings,  and  other  nec 
essaries  ;  but  I  believe  the  true  reasons  of  his 
being  unwilling  to  pursue  the  mode  pointed  out 
by  you,  were  his  aversion  to  the  York  troops,  and 
his  desire  to  retain  General  Parsons  with  him. 

I  am,  &c. 


A  FEW  OF  HAMILTON'S  LETTERS  37 


FROM  WASHINGTON 

HEAD  QUARTERS,  November  i5th,  1777. 

Dear  Sir,  —  I  have  duly  received  your  several 
favours,  from  the  time  you  left  me  to  that  of 
the  twelfth  instant.  I  approve  entirely  of  _all  the 
steps  you  have  taken ;  and  have  only  to  wish 
that  the  exertions  of  those  you  have  had  to  deal 
with,  had  kept  pace  with  your  zeal  and  good 
intentions.  I  hope  your  health  will,  before  this, 
have  permitted  you  to  push  on  the  rear  of  the 
whole  reinforcement  beyond  New  Windsor.  Some 
of  the  enemy's  ships  have  arrived  in  the  Dela 
ware  ;  but  how  many  have  troops  on  board  I 
cannot  exactly  ascertain.  The  enemy  have  lately 
damaged  Fort  Mifflin  considerably;  but  our  peo 
ple  keep  possession,  and  seem  determined  to  do 
so  to  the  last  extremity.  Our  loss  in  men  has 
been  but  small.  Captain  Treat  is  unfortunately 
among  the  killed.  I  wish  you  a  safe  return, 
And  I  am,  dear  Sir, 

Your  most  obedient  servant, 

G.  WASHINGTON. 


38  A   FEW  OF   HAMILTON'S  LETTERS 

FROM   HUGH    KNOX 

ST.  CROIX,  December  10,  1777. 

Dear  Hamilton,  —  The  fine,  impartial,  laconic, 
and  highly  descriptive  account  you  favoured  me 
with  of  the  last  year's  campaign,  in  your  letter  of 
March  last,  excited  in  me,  and  many  of  your 
other  friends  here,  an  earnest  desire  of  further 
accounts  from  your  pen,  of  the  succeeding  fortunes 
of  the  Great  American  War:  a  war  which  will, 
one  day,  shine  more  illustriously  in  the  historic 
page,  than  any  which  has  happened  since  the 
times  of  Nimrod  and  the  Giants  ;  and  deservedly, 
on  account  of  the  goodness  of  the  cause,  the 
grandeur  of  the  object,  the  eclat  of  the  generals, 
the  bravery  of  the  troops,  —  and  (alas !  that  I 
should  be  obliged  to  add)  of  the  cruelty  and 
ferocity  which  has  marked  the  route  of  your 
enemies ;  and  the  tons  of  brothers'  blood  which 
has  been  shed  on  the  unhappy  occasion. 

I  wrote  two  answers  to  your  obliging  letter 
both  of  which  I  hope  have  reached  you ;  and 
in  both  of  which  I  have  urged  it  upon  you,  to 
make  and  collect  such  memoirs  as  the  urgency 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  39 

of  your  affairs  will  permit  you ;  which  may  furnish 
materials  for  an  accurate  history  of  the  war,  when 
you  shall  have  leisure  to  fill  up  and  embellish 
such  a  skeleton,  with  all  that  elegance  and  dignity 
of  which  your  fine  pen  is  capable. 

The  honourable  post  you  hold  under  the  GREAT 
General  Washington,  and  so  near  his  person,  will 
give  you  a  peculiar  advantage  in  delineating  his 
character,  both  in  his  amiable  private  virtues  and 
military  abilities.  And  depend  upon  it,  the  very 
minutiae  of  that  incomparable  man  will  be  read 
with  avidity  by  posterity.  You  know  me  too 
well,  I  hope,  to  suspect  me  of  superstition ;  yet 
I  feel  myself,  at  times,  under  a  strong  impulse 
to  prophesy,  that  Washington  was  born  for  the 
deliverance  of  America  —  and  that  Providence  who 
has  raised  and  trained  him  up  for  that  very  pur 
pose,  will  watch  over  his  sacred  life  with  a  pater 
nal  and  solicitous  care ;  will  shield  his  head  in 
every  day  of  battle  —  will  give  him  to  see  America 
free,  flourishing,  and  happy  —  and  will  adorn  his 
fame,  among  latest  posterity,  with  a  Garland  of 
Laurel,  more  verdant,  blooming  and  enviable,  than 
ever  adorned  the  brow  of  a  Marlborough  ! 

The  bearer  of  this  line  (if  he  should  be  indeed 


40  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

so  fortunate  as  to  put  it  into  your  hand)  is  our 
worthy  friend,  Mr.  Cornelius  Durant,  who  is  pos 
sessed  of  an  ardent  desire  of  having  the  honour 
of  a  short  interview  with  General  Washington ; 
principally  that  he  may  have  it  to  say,  that  he 
has  seen  and  spoken  to  the  greatest  man  of  this 
age:  and,  indeed,  considering  Mr.  Durant's  per 
sonal  worth  ;  his  uncommon  zeal  for,  and  attach 
ment  to  the  American  cause  ;  the  losses  he  has 
sustained  in  attempting  to  assist  her;  and  his 
extraordinary  admiration  of,  and  love  to  the  Gen 
eral's  character  and  person,  few  men  more  richly 
merit  this  indulgence.  If  you  still  exist,  and 
exist  near  the  General's  person  (and  I  have  not 
yet  seen  your  name  among  the  list  of  the  slain 
or  the  disgraced),  you  can  easily  procure  him 
this  honour  —  and  I  trust  you  will. 

We  are  now  blessed  with,  and  certified  of,  the 
glorious  news  of  Burgoyne's  surrender  to  the 
immortal  GATES;  another  bright  star  in  the  Con 
stellation  of  American  Heroes ;  and  we  are 
momently  expecting  to  hear  that  General  Wash 
ington  has  done  something  like  the  same  by 
General  Howe !  But  we  yet  tremble  in  suspense 
—  and  it  is  indeed  a  painful  one.  Probably 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  41 

before  this  letter  goes  we  shall  hear  more  of 
the  matter.  Our  general  accounts  are  favour 
able  ;  and  while  the  Chevaux  de  frize  are  defended 
we  have  no  fears  about  Philadelphia.  May  this 
campaign  decide  the  matter ! 

By  the  time  this  reaches  you,  you  will  be  (if 
you  are  at  all)  in  winter  quarters ;  and  may 
perhaps  be  at  leisure  to  write  me  a  half  folio, 
of  which  Mr.  Durant  will  take  care  to  write 
me  duplicates,  or  triplicates,  for  fear  of  miscar 
riage. 

A  piece  of  mine,  entitled  "An  Address  to 
America,  by  a  friend  in  a  foreign  government," 
has  been  sent  to  the  Congress  for  publication 
(if  approved).  I  know  not  yet  its  fate.  It  is, 
at  least,  an  honestly  designed  and  animating 
piece,  but  written  incorrectly,  and  in  a  hurry. 
If  you  have  seen  it  pray  give  me  your  senti 
ments  about  it;  but  let  it  be  on  a  loose  paper 
enclosed  in  your  letter;  for  the  knowledge  of 
my  being  the  author  must  be  a  profound  secret 
here. 

My  wishes  are,  that  the  God  of  Armies  may 
defend  and  protect  you,  and  to  cause  you  happily 
to  survive,  and  to  hand  down  to  posterity  the 


42  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

present  important  scenes.  Numbers  here  esteem 
you,  and  would  join  me  in  declaring  themselves, 
as  I  do, 

Dear  Hamilton, 
Your  ever  affectionate  friend  and  servant, 

HUGH  KNOX. 


To   OTHO   H.   WILLIAMS 

nth  June,  1779. 

Dear  Williams,  —  The  General  sends  you  four 
fresh  horsemen  to  enable  you  to  transmit  him 
intelligence.  The  General  will  take  the  road  you 
marched  to  your  quarters. 

Mind  your  eye,  my  dear  boy,  and  if  you  have 
an  opportunity,  fight  hard. 

Your  friend  and  servant, 

A.  HAMILTON. 


FROM   COLONEL   FLEURY 

L'lNFANTRY   CAMP,  1 8th  August,  1 779. 

Dear  Colonel,  —  The  officers  of  the  two  A  Bat 
talions  of  1'Infantery,  which  I  actually  command, 
have  applied  to  me  for  ceasing  to  run  over  these 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  43 

craggy  mountains  barefooted,  and  beg  that  I  would 
write  to  headquarters  to  have  an  order  from  his 
Excellency  to  get  one  pair  of  shoes  for  each;  the 
shoes  they  hint  to  are  at  New  Windsor,  and  their 
intention  is  to  pay  for. 

Do  not  be  so  greedy  for  shoes  as  for  my  blanket, 
and  think  that  the  most  urgent  necessity  has  deter 
mined  their  application  ;  they  are  quite  barefoot. 
I  am  very  respectfully,  Sir, 

Your  most  obedient  servant, 

L.  FLEURY. 

N.B.  As  his  Excellency  could  form  a  very 
advantageous  idea  of  our  being  lucky  in  shoes  by 
the  appearance  of  the  officers  who  dined  to-day  at 
headquarters,  and  were  not  quite  without,  I  beg 
you  would  observe  to  him,  if  necessary,  that  each 
company  had  furnished  a  shoe  for  their  dressing. 

Si  vous  savez  un  mot  de  M.   De   La  Luzerne 

.u    c'jmlian 

dites  le  moi. 

.]  bsnirmsteb 

jjrup  I   nt>rIW 
FROM  JOHN    LAURENSGJni 


My  dear  Hamilton,  —  On  my 
was  informed  by  the  President,  that 


44  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

suspended  the  business  of  appointing  a  secretary 
to  their  minister  plenipotentiary  at  Versailles  until 
my  return,  in  hopes  that  I  might  still  be  prevailed 
upon  to  accept  the  office.  I  replied,  that  I 
thought  my  letter  upon  the  subject  sufficiently 
explicit,  and  assured  him  of  my  sincere  desire  to 
be  excused  from  serving  in  that  capacity  at  the 
present  juncture  of  our  affairs. 

He  urged  the  unanimity  °f  thfi  rb™rf*  with 
respect  to  me  —  the  difficulty  of  uniting  the  suf- 
of  all  partial-,  in  case  TTi  a  newTiomination, 
and  the  advantages  of  this  union.  Several  dele 
gates  of  congress  declared  to  me  the  embarrass 
ment  of  congress  since  J  had  declined.  One,  in 
particular,  suggested  to  me  his  apprehension  of 
interest  being  made  for  a  late  delegate  of  New- 
York,  who  is  candidate  for  the  office,  and  to  whom 
the  world  in  general  allows  greater  credit  for  his 
abilities  than  his  integrity ;  and  said :  "  he  was 
determined  to  oppose  him  with  all  his  influence." 
When  I  quitted  town  the  sixteenth,  these  matters 
crowded  into  my  mind.  I  fell  into  a  train  of 
serious  reflections  and  self-examination,  —  endeav 
oured  to  investigate  whether  I  had  fulfilled  the 
duties  of  a  good  citizen  in  the  transaction.  In 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  45 

fine  I  agitated  the  grand  question,  whether  a  citi 
zen  has  a  right  to  decline  any  office  to  which  his 
countrymen  appoint  him;  upon  what  that  right  is 
founded,  and  whether  it  existed  in  my  case. 

After  undergoing  the  severest  conflict  I  ever 
experienced,  sometimes  reproaching,  sometimes 
justifying  myself,  pursuing  my  journey,  or  turning 
retrograde,  as  the  arguments  on  the  one  side  or 
the  other  appeared  to  prevail,  I  determined  that 
I  had  been  deficient  in  the  duties  of  a  good 
citizen.  I  returned  to  Philadelphia,  communicated 
my  sentiments  to  the  President  and  two  other 
members;  declared  to  them  that  I  thought  it 
incumbent  on  me,  in  the  first  place,  to  recommend 
a  person  equally  qualified  in  point  of  integrity, 
and  much  better  in  point  of  ability.  That  if, 
unhappily,  they  could  not  agree  on  Colonel  Hamil 
ton,  and  that  I  was  absolutely  necessary  to  exclude 
a  dangerous  person,  or  to  prevent  pernicious  de 
lays,  I  should  think  it  my  duty  to  obey  the  orders 
of  congress.  The  persons  now  in  nomination,  are, 
Colonel  Hamilton,  Mr.  Lovell,  Mr.  G.  Morris, 
Major  Stewart.  Great  stress  is  laid  upon  the 
ability  and  integrity  of  the  person  to  be  employed 
in  this  commission.  I  have  given  my  testimony 


46  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

of   you    in    this    and    the    other    equally   essential 
points. 

My  love,  as  usual.     Adieu. 

JOHN  LAURENS. 


FROM  LAURENS 

CHARLESTON. 

Ternant  will  relate  to  you  how  many  violent 
struggles  I  have  had  between  duty  and  inclination 
—  how  much  my  heart  was  with  you,  while  I 
appeared  to  be  most  actively  employed  here.  But 
it  appears  to  me  that  I  should  be  inexcusable  in 
the  light  of  a  citizen,  if  I  did  not  continue  my 
utmost  efforts  for  carrying  the  plan  of  the  black 
levies  into  execution,  while  there  remains  the  small 
est  hope  of  success. 

Our  army  is  reduced  to  nothing,  almost,  by  the 
departure  of  the  Virginians.  Scott's  arrival  will 
scarcely  restore  us  to  our  ancient  number.  If  the 
enemy  destine  the  reinforcements  from  Great  Brit 
ain  to  this  quarter,  as  in  policy  they  ought  to  do, 
that  number  will  be  insufficient  for  the  security  of 
our  country.  The  Governor,  among  other  matters 
to  be  laid  before  the  House  of  Assembly,  intends 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  47 

to  propose  the  completing  our  continental  battal 
ions  by  drafts  from  the  militia.  This  measure,  I 
am  told,  is  so  unpopular  that  there  is  no  hope  of 
succeeding  in  it.  Either  this  must  be  adopted,  or 
the  black  levies,  or  the  state  will  fall  a  victim  to  the 
improvidence  of  its  inhabitants. 

The  House  of  Representatives  have  had  a  longer 
recess  than  usual,  occasioned  by  the  number  of 
members  in  the  field.  It  will  be  convened,  how 
ever,  in  a  few  days.  I  intend  to  qualify,  and  make 
a  final  effort.  Oh,  that  I  were  a  Demosthenes ! 
The  Athenians  never  deserved  a  more  bitter  repro 
bation  than  our  countrymen. 

General  Clinton's  movement,  and  your  march  in 
consequence,  made  me  wish  to  be  with  you.  If 
anything  important  should  be  doing  in  your  quar 
ter,  while  I  am  doing  daily  penance  here,  and  mak 
ing  successless  harangues,  I  shall  execrate  my  stars, 
and  be  out  of  humour  with  the  world.  I  entreat 
you,  my  dear  friend,  write  me  as  frequently  as  cir 
cumstances  will  permit,  and  enlighten  me  upon 
what  is  going  forward. 

Adieu.  My  love  to  our  colleagues.  I  am  afraid 
I  was  so  thoughtless  as  to  omit  my  remembrances 
to  Gibbes.  Tell  him  that  I  am  his  sincere  well- 


48  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

wisher,   and   hope   to   laugh   with    him    again   ere 

long. 

Adieu  again, 

Yours  ever, 

JOHN  LAURENS. 

FROM  LAURENS 

1778,  December. 

My  dear  Hamilton,  —  You  have  seen  and  by  this 
time  considered,  General  Lee's  infamous  publica 
tion.  I  have  collected  some  hints  for  an  answer; 
but  I  do  not  think,  either  that  I  can  rely  upon  my 
own  knowledge  of  facts  and  style  to  answer  him 
fully,  or  that  it  would  be  prudent  to  undertake  it 
without  counsel.  An  affair  of  this  kind  ought  to 
be  passed  over  in  total  silence,  or  answered  in  a 
masterly  manner. 

The  ancient  secretary  is  the  Recueil  of  modern 
history  and  anecdotes,  and  will  give  them  to  us 
with  candour,  elegance,  and  perspicuity.  The  pen 
of  Junius  is  in  your  hand ;  and  I  think  you  will, 
without  difficulty,  expose  in  his  defence,  letters,  and 
last  production,  such  a  tissue  of  falsehood  and 
inconsistency,  as  will  satisfy  the  world  and  put  him 
forever  to  silence. 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  49 

Adieu,  my  dear  boy :  —  I  shall  set  out  for  camp 
to-morrow. 

JOHN  LAURENS. 

To  JOHN   LAURENS 

Cold  in  my  professions  —  warm  in  my  friendships 
—  I  wish,  my  dear  Laurens,  it  were  in  my  power, 
by  actions,  rather  than  words,  to  convince  you  that 
I  love  you.  I  shall  only  tell  you,  that  till  you  bade 
us  adieu,  I  hardly  knew  the  value  you  had  taught 
my  heart  to  set  upon  you.  Indeed,  my  friend,  it 
was  not  well  done.  You  know  the  opinion  I  enter 
tain  of  mankind  :  and  how  much  it  is  my  jesire  to 
preserve  myself  from  particular  attachments,  and 
to-kecp  my  happiness  independent  of  the  "caprice s 
of  others.  You  should  not  have  taken  advantage 
of  my  sensibility  to  steal  into  my  affections  without 
my  consent.  But  as  you  have  done  it,  and  as  we 
are  generally  indulgent  to  those  we  love,  I  shall 
not  scruple  to  pardon  the  fraud  you  have  com 
mitted,  on  one  condition ;  that  for  my  sake,  if  not 
for  your  own,  you  will  continue  to  merit  the  par 
tiality  which  you  have  so  artfully  instilled  into  me. 

I  have  received  your  two  letters ;  one  from  Phila- 


50  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

delphia,  the  other  from  Chester.  I  am  pleased 
with  your  success  so  far;  and  I  hope  the  favour 
able  omens  that  precede  your  application  to  the 
Assembly,  may  have  as  favourable  an  issue ;  pro 
vided  the  situation  of  affairs  should  require  it, 
which  I  fear  will  be  the  case.  But  both  for  your 
country's  sake,  and  for  my  own,  I  wish  the  enemy 
may  be  gone  from  Georgia  before  you  arrive ; 
and  that  you  may  be  obliged  to  return,  and  share 
the  fortunes  of  your  old  friends.  In  respect  to 
the  commission  which  you  received  from  Congress, 
all  the  world  must  think  your  conduct  perfectly 
right.  Indeed,  your  ideas  upon  this  occasion  seem 
not  to  have  their  wonted  accuracy;  and  you  have 
had  scruples,  in  a  great  measure,  without  founda 
tion.  By  your  appointment  as  aid-de-camp  to  the 
commander-in-chief,  you  had  as  much  the  rank  of 
lieutenant-colonel  as  any  officer  in  the  line.  Your 
receiving  a  commission  as  lieutenant-colonel,  from 
the  date  of  that  appointment,  does  not  in  the  least 
injure  or  interfere  with  one  of  them ;  unless,  by- 
virtue  of  it  you  are  introduced  into  a  particular 
regiment,  in  violation  of  the  right  of  succession, 
which  is  not  the  case  at  present ;  neither  is  it  a 
necessary  consequence.  As  you  were  going  to 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  51 

command  a  battalion,  it  was  proper  you  should 
have  a  commission;  and  if  this  commission  had 
been  dated  posterior  to  your  appointment  as  aid- 
de-camp,  I  should  have  considered  it  derogatory 
to  your  former  rank,  to  mine,  and  to  that  of  the 
whole  corps.  The  only  thing  I  see  wrong  in  the 
affair  is  this :  Congress  by  their  conduct,  both  on 
the  former  and  present  occasion,  appear  to  have 
intended  to  confer  a  privilege,  an  honour,  a  mark 
of  distinction,  a  something  upon  you,  which  they 
withheld  from  other  gentlemen  of  the  family. 
This  carries  with  it  an  air  of  preference,  which, 
though  we  can  all  truly  say  we  love  your  char 
acter  and  admire  your  military  merit,  cannot  fail 
to  give  some  of  us  uneasy  sensations.  But  in  this, 
my  dear,  I  wish  you  to  understand  me  well.  The 
blame,  if  there  is  any,  falls  wholly  upon  congress. 
I  repeat  it,  your  conduct  has  been  perfectly  right, 
and  even  laudable;  —  you  rejected  the  offer  when 
you  ought  to  have  accepted  it;  and  let  me  add, 
with  a  degree  of  over-scrupulous  delicacy.  It  was 
necessary  to  your  project.  Your  project  was  the 
public  good;  and  I  should  have  done  the  same. 
In  hesitating,  you  have  refined  on  the  refinements 
of  generosity. 


52  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

There  is  a  total  stagnation  of  news  here.  Gates 
has  refused  the  Indian  command.  Sullivan  is 
come  to  take  it.  The  former  has  lately  given 
fresh  proofs  of  his  impudence,  his  folly,  and  his 

.  'Tis  no  great  matter;  but  a  peculiarity  in 

the  case  prevents  my  saying  what. 

Fleury  shall  be  taken  care  of.  All  the  family 
send  love.  In  this  join  the  General  and  Mrs. 
Washington ;  and  what  is  best,  it  is  not  in  the 
style  of  ceremony,  but  sincerity. 

To  LAURENS 

September,  1780. 

Since  my  return  from  Hartford,  my  dear 
Laurens,  my  mind  has  been  too  little  at  ease  to 
permit  me  to  write  to  you  sooner.  It  has  been 
wholly  occupied  by  the  affecting  and  tragic  conse 
quences  of  Arnold's  treason.  My  feelings  were 
never  put  to  so  severe  a  trial.  You  will  no  doubt 
have  heard  the  principal  facts  before  this  reaches 
you ;  but  there  are  particulars  to  which  my  situa 
tion  gave  me  access,  that  cannot  have  come  to 
your  knowledge  from  public  report,  which  I  am 
persuaded  you  will  find  interesting. 

From  several  circumstances,  the  project   seems 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  53 

to  have  originated  with  Arnold  himself,  and  to 
have  been  long  premeditated.  The  first  overture 
is  traced  back  to  some  time  in  June  last.  It  was 
conveyed  in  a  letter  to  Colonel  Robinson,  the  sub 
stance  of  which  was,  that  the  ingratitude  he  had 
experienced  from  his  country,  concurring  with 
other  causes,  had  entirely  changed  his  principles; 
that  he  now  only  sought  to  restore  himself  to  the 
favour  of  his  king,  by  some  signal  proof  of  his 
repentance,  and  would  be  happy  to  open  a  corre 
spondence  with  Sir  Henry  Clinton  for  that  purpose. 
About  this  period  he  made  a  journey  to  Connecti 
cut  ;  on  his  return  from  which  to  Philadelphia,  he 
solicited  the  command  of  West  Point,  alleging 
that  the  effects  of  his  wound  had  disqualified  him 
for  the  active  duties  of  the  field.  The  sacrifice 
of  this  important  post  was  the  atonement  he  in 
tended  to  make.  General  Washington  hesitated 
the  less  to  gratify  an  officer  who  had  rendered 
such  eminent  services,  as  he  was  convinced  the 
post  might  be  safely  intrusted  to  one  who  had 
given  so  many  distinguished  proofs  of  his  bravery. 
In  the  beginning  of  August  he  joined  the  army, 
and  renewed  his  application.  The  enemy  at  this 
juncture  had  embarked  the  greatest  part  of  their 


54  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

force  on  an  expedition  to  Rhode- Island,  and  our 
army  was  in  motion  to  compel  them  to  relinquish 
the  enterprise  or  to  attack  New- York  in  its  weak 
ened  state.  The  General  offered  Arnold  the  left 
wing  of  the  army,  which  he  declined,  on  the  pre 
text  already  mentioned,  but  not  without  visible 
embarrassment.  He  certainly  might  have  executed 
the  duties  of  such  a  temporary  command,  and  it 
was  expected  from  his  enterprising  temper  that 
he  would  gladly  have  embraced  so  splendid  an 
opportunity.  But  he  did  not  choose  to  be  diverted 
a  moment  from  his  favourite  object;  probably 
from  an  apprehension  that  some  different  disposi 
tion  might  have  taken  place  which  would  have 
excluded  him.  The  extreme  solicitude  he  discov 
ered  to  get  possession  of  the  post  would  have  led 
to  a  suspicion  of  the  treachery,  had  it  been  pos 
sible,  from  his  past  conduct,  to  have  supposed  him 
capable  of  it. 

The  correspondence  thus  begun,  was  carried  on 
between  Arnold  and  Major  Andre,  Adjutant  Gen 
eral  to  the  British  army,  in  behalf  of  Sir  Henry 
Clinton,  under  feigned  signatures,  and  in  a  mer 
cantile  disguise.  In  an  intercepted  letter  of 
Arnold,  which  lately  fell  into  our  hands,  he  pro- 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  55 

poses  an  interview  "to  settle  the  risks  and  prof 
its  of  the  copartnership, "  and  in  the  same  style 
of  metaphor  intimates  an  expected  augmentation 
of  the  garrison,  and  speaks  of  it  as  the  means  of 
extending  their  traffic.  It  appears  by  another 
letter,  that  Andre  was  to  have  met  him  on  the 
lines,  under  the  sanction  of  a  flag,  in  the  char 
acter  of  Mr.  John  Anderson.  But  some  cause  or 
other,  not  known,  prevented  this  interview. 

The  twentieth  of  last  month,  Robinson  and 
Andre  went  up  the  river  in  the  Vulture,  sloop  of 
war.  Robinson  sent  a  flag  to  Arnold  with  two 
letters,  one  to  General  Putnam,  enclosed  in  another 
to  himself,  proposing  an  interview  with  Putnam,  or 
in  his  absence  with  Arnold,  to  adjust  some  private 
concerns.  The  one  to  General  Putnam  was  evi 
dently  meant  as  a  cover  to  the  other,  in  case,  by 
accident,  the  letter  should  have  fallen  under  the 
inspection  of  a  third  person. 

General  Washington  crossed  the  river  on  his  way 
to  Hartford,  the  day  these  dispatches  arrived. 
Arnold,  conceiving  he  must  have  heard  of  the 
flag,  thought  it  necessary,  for  the  sake  of  appear 
ances,  to  submit  the  letters  to  him,  and  asked  his 
opinion  of  the  propriety  of  complying  with  the 


56  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

request  The  General,  with  his  usual  caution, 
though  without  the  least  surmise  of  the  design, 
dissuaded  him  from  it,  and  advised  him  to  reply  to 
Robinson,  that  whatever  related  to  his  private  affairs 
must  be  of  a  civil  nature,  and  could  only  properly  be 
addressed  to  the  civil  authority.  This  reference 
fortunately  deranged  the  plan,  and  was  the  first 
link  in  the  chain  of  events  that  led  to  the  detection. 
The  interview  could  no  longer  take  place  in  the 
form  of  a  flag,  but  was  obliged  to  be  managed  in  a 
secret  manner. 

Arnold  employed  one  Smith  to  go  on  board  the 
Vulture  the  night  of  the  twenty-second,  to  bring 
Andre  on  shore  with  a  pass  for  Mr.  John  Anderson. 
Andre  came  ashore  accordingly,  and  was  conducted 
within  a  picket  of  ours  to  the  house  of  Smith, 
where  Arnold  and  he  remained  together  in  close 
conference  all  that  night  and  the  day  following. 
At  daylight  in  the  morning,  the  commanding 
officer  at  King's  Ferry,  without  the  privity  of 
Arnold,  moved  a  couple  of  pieces  of  cannon  to  a 
point  opposite  to  where  the  Vulture  lay,  and  obliged 
her  to  take  a  more  remote  station.  This  event,  or 
some  lurking  distrust,  made  the  boatmen  refuse  to 
convey  the  two  passengers  back,  and  disconcerted 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  57 

Arnold  so  much,  that  by  one  of  those  strokes  of 
infatuation  which  often  confound  the  schemes  of 
men  conscious  of  guilt,  he  insisted  on  Andre's 
exchanging  his  uniform  for  a  disguise,  and  return 
ing  in  a  mode  different  from  that  in  which  he  came. 
Andre,  who  had  been  undesignedly  brought  within 
our  posts,  in  the  first  instance,  remonstrated  warmly 
against  this  new  and  dangerous  expedient.  But 
Arnold,  persisting  in  declaring  it  impossible  for 
him  to  return  as  he  came,  he  at  length  reluctantly 
yielded  to  his  direction,  and  consented  to  change 
his  dress,  and  take  the  route  he  recommended. 
Smith  furnished  the  disguise,  and  in  the  evening 
passed  King's  Ferry  with  him,  and  proceeded  to 
Crompond,  where  they  stopped  the  remainder  of 
the  night  (at  the  instance  of  a  militia  officer), 
to  avoid  being  suspected  by  him.  The  next  morn 
ing  they  resumed  their  journey,  Smith  accompany 
ing  Andre  a  little  beyond  Pine's  Bridge,  where  he 
left  him.  He  had  reached  Tarrytown,  when  he 
was  taken  up  by  three  militiamen,  who  rushed  out 
of  the  woods,  and  seized  his  horse.  At  this  criti 
cal  moment,  his  presence  of  mind  forsook  him. 
Instead  of  producing  his  pass,  which  would  have 
extricated  him  from  our  parties,  and  could  have 


58  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

done  him  no  harm  with  his  own,  he  asked  the 
militiamen  if  they  were  of  the  upper  or  lower 
party,  distinctive  appellations  known  among  the 
refugee  corps.  The  militiamen  replied,  they  were 
of  the  lower  party ;  upon  which  he  told  them  he 
was  a  British  officer,  and  pressed  them  not  to  detain 
him  as  he  was  upon  urgent  business.  This  con 
fession  removed  all  doubt;  and  it  was  in  vain  he 
afterwards  produced  his  pass.  He  was  instantly 
forced  off  to  a  place  of  greater  security;  where 
after  a  careful  search,  there  were  found  concealed 
in  the  feet  of  his  stockings,  several  papers  of 
importance  delivered  to  him  by  Arnold.  Among 
these  there  were  a  plan  of  the  fortifications  of  West 
Point,  a  memorial  from  the  engineer  on  the  attack 
and  defence  of  the  place,  returns  of  the  garrison, 
cannon,  and  stores,  copies  of  the  minutes  of  a 
council  of  war  held  by  General  Washington  a  few 
weeks  before.  The  prisoner  at  first  was  inadver 
tently  ordered  to  Arnold ;  but  on  recollection,  while 
still  on  the  way,  he  was  countermanded  and  sent  to 
Old  Salem. 

The  papers  were  enclosed  in  a  letter  to  General 
Washington,  which  having  taken  a  route  different 
from  that  by  which  he  returned,  made  a  circuit, 


A   FEW  OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  59 

that  afforded  leisure  for  another  letter,  through  an 
ill-judged  delicacy,  written  to  Arnold,  with  informa 
tion  of  Anderson's  capture,  to  get  to  him  an  hour 
before  General  Washington  arrived  at  his  quarters, 
time  enough  to  elude  the  fate  that  awaited  him. 
He  went  down  the  river  in  his  barge  to  the  Vul 
ture,  with  such  precipitate  confusion  that  he  did 
not  take  with  him  a  single  paper  useful  to  the 
enemy.  On  the  first  notice  of  the  affair  he  was 
pursued,  but  much  too  late  to  be  overtaken. 

There  was  some  colour  for  imagining  it  was  a 
part  of  the  plan  to  betray  the  General  into  the 
bands  of  the  enemy.  Arnold  was  very  anxious  to 
ascertain  from  him  the  precise  day  of  his  return, 
and  the  enemy's  movements  seem  to  have  corre 
sponded  to  this  point.  But  if  it  was  really  the  case 
it  was  very  injudicious.  The  success  must  have 
depended  on  surprise,  and  as  the  officers  at  the 
advanced  posts  were  not  in  the  secret,  their  meas 
ures  might  have  given  the  alarm,  and  General 
Washington,  taking  command  of  the  post,  might 
have  rendered  the  whole  scheme  abortive.  Arnold, 
it  is  true,  had  so  dispersed  the  garrison  as  to  have 
made  a  defence  difficult,  but  not  impracticable ;  and 
the  acquisition  of  West  Point  was  of  such  magni- 


60  A   FEW  OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

tude  to  the  enemy,  that  it  would  have  been  unwise 
to  connect  it  with  any  other  object,  however  great, 
which  might  make  the  obtaining  of  it  precarious. 
Arnold,  a  moment  before  his  setting  out,  went 
into  Mrs.  Arnold's  apartment,  and  informed  her 
that  some  transaction  had  just  come  to  light,  which 
must  forever  banish  him  from  his  country.  She  fell 
into  a  swoon  at  this  declaration,  and  he  left  her 
in  it  to  consult  his  own  safety,  till  the  servants, 
alarmed  by  her  cries,  came  to  her  relief.  She 
remained  frantic  all  day,  accusing  every  one  who 
approached  her  with  an  intention  to  murder  her 
child  (an  infant  in  her  arms),  and  exhibiting  every 
other  mark  of  the  most  genuine  and  agonizing  dis 
tress.  Exhausted  by  the  fatigue  and  tumult  of  her 
spirits,  her  frenzy  subsided  towards  evening,  and 
she  sunk  into  all  the  sadness  of  affliction.  It  was 
impossible  not  to  have  been  touched  with  her  situa 
tion  ;  every  thing  affecting  in  female  tears,  or  in  the 
misfortunes  of  beauty,  every  thing  pathetic  in  the 
wounded  tenderness  of  a  wife,  or  in  the  apprehensive 
fondness  of  a  mother,  and,  till  I  have  reason  to 
change  the  opinion,  I  will  add,  every  thing  amiable 
in  suffering  innocence,  conspired  to  make  her  an 
object  of  sympathy  to  all  who  were  present.  She 


A   FEW  OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  61 

experienced  the  most  delicate  attentions,  and  every 
friendly  office,  till  her  departure  for  Philadelphia. 

Andre  was,  without  loss  of  time,  conducted  to  the 
headquarters  of  the  army,  where  he  was  immedi 
ately  brought  before  a  board  of  general  officers,  to 
prevent  all  possibility  of  misrepresentation  or  cavil 
on  the  part  of  the  enemy. 

The  board  reported  that  he  ought  to  be  con 
sidered  as  a  spy,  and  according  to  the  laws  and 
usages  of  nations,  to  suffer  death,  which  was  exe 
cuted  two  days  after. 

Never,  perhaps,  did  any  man  suffer  death  with 
more  justice,  or  deserve  it  less.  The  first  step  he 
took  after  his  capture,  was  to  write  a  letter  to 
General  Washington,  conceived  in  terms  of  dignity 
without  insolence,  and  apology  without  meanness. 
The  scope  of  it  was  to  vindicate  himself  from  the 
imputation  of  having  assumed  a  mean  character, 
for  treacherous  or  interested  purposes;  asserting 
that  he  had  been  involuntarily  an  impostor;  that 
contrary  to  his  intention,  which  was  to  meet  a  per 
son  for  intelligence  on  neutral  ground,  he  had  been 
betrayed  within  our  posts,  and  forced  into  the  vile 
condition  of  an  enemy  in  disguise ;  soliciting  only 
that  to  whatever  rigour  policy  might  devote  him,  a 


62  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

decency  of  treatment  might  be  observed  to  a  per 
son  who,  though  unfortunate,  had  been  guilty  of 
nothing  dishonourable.  His  request  was  granted 
in  its  full  extent ;  for  in  the  whole  progress  of  the 
affair,  he  was  treated  with  the  most  scrupulous  deli 
cacy.  When  brought  before  the  board  of  officers 
he  met  with  every  mark  of  indulgence,  and  was 
required  to  answer  no  interrogatory  which  would 
even  embarrass  his  feelings.  On  his  part,  while  he 
carefully  concealed  everything  that  might  impli 
cate  others,  he  frankly  confessed  all  the  facts  relat 
ing  to  himself,  and  upon  his  confession,  without  the 
trouble  of  examining  a  witness,  the  board  made  their 
report.  The  members  were  not  more  impressed 
with  the  candour  and  firmness,  mixed  with  a  becom 
ing  sensibility  which  he  displayed,  than  he  was 
penetrated  with  their  liberality  and  politeness.  He 
acknowledged  the  generosity  of  their  behaviour 
towards  him  in  every  respect,  but  particularly  in 
this,  in  the  strongest  terms  of  manly  gratitude.  In 
a  conversation  with  a  gentleman  who  visited  him 
after  his  trial,  he  said  he  flattered  himself  he  had 
never  been  illiberal ;  but  if  there  were  any  remains 
of  prejudice  in  his  mind,  his  present  experience 
must  obliterate  them. 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  63 

In  one  of  the  visits  I  made  to  him  (and  I  saw 
him  several  times  during  his  confinement)  he 
begged  me  to  be  the  bearer  of  a  request  to  the 
General,  for  permission  to  send  an  open  letter  to 
Sir  Henry  Clinton.  "  I  foresee  my  fate,"  said  he, 
"  and  though  I  pretend  not  to  play  the  hero,  or  to  be 
indifferent  about  life,  yet  I  am  reconciled  to  what 
ever  may  happen,  conscious  that  misfortune,  not 
guilt,  has  brought  it'  upon  me.  There  is  only  one 
thing  that  disturbs  my  tranquillity.  Sir  Henry 
Clinton  has  been  too  good  to  me;  he  has  been 
lavish  of  his  kindness ;  I  am  bound  to  him  by  too 
many  obligations,  and  love  him  too  well  to  bear  the 
thought  that  he  should  reproach  himself,  or  others 
should  reproach  him,  on  the  supposition  of  my  hav 
ing  conceived  myself  obliged,  by  his  instructions,  to 
run  the  risk  I  did.  I  would  not,  for  the  world, 
leave  a  sting  in  his  mind  that  should  embitter  his 
future  days."  He  could  scarce  finish  the  sentence  ; 
bursting  into  tears,  in  spite  of  his  efforts  to  suppress 
them,  and  with  difficulty  collected  himself  enough 
afterwards  to  add,  "  I  wish  to  be  permitted  to  as 
sure  him,  I  did  not  act  under  this  impression,  but 
submitted  to  a  necessity  imposed  upon  me,  as  con 
trary  to  my  own  inclination,  as  to  his  orders."  His 


64  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

request  was  readily  complied  with,  and  he  wrote  the 
letter  annexed,  with  which  I  dare  say  you  will  be 
as  much  pleased  as  I  am,  both  for  the  sentiment 
and  diction. 

When  his  sentence  was  announced  to  him,  he 
remarked,  that  since  it  was  his  lot  to  die,  there  was 
still  a  choice  in  the  mode,  which  would  make  a  ma 
terial  difference  to  his  feelings;  and  he  would  be 
happy,  if  possible,  to  be  indulged  with  a  professional 
death.  He  made  a  second  application  by  letter, 
in  concise  but  persuasive  terms.  It  was  thought 
this  indulgence,  being  incompatible  with  the  cus 
toms  of  war,  could  not  be  granted ;  and  it  was, 
therefore,  determined,  in  both  cases,  to  evade  an 
answer,  to  spare  him  the  sensations,  which  a  certain 
knowledge  of  the  intended  mode  would  inflict. 

In  going  to  the  place  of  execution,  he  bowed 
familiarly  as  he  went  along,  to  all  those  with  whom 
he  had  been  acquainted  in  his  confinement.  A 
smile  of  complacency  expressed  the  supreme  forti 
tude  of  his  mind.  Arrived  at  the  fatal  spot,  he 
asked  with  some  emotion, "  Must  I  then  die  in  this 
manner  ?  "  He  was  told  it  had  been  unavoidable. 
"  I  am  reconciled  to  my  fate,"  said  he,  "  but  not  to 
the  mode."  Soon,  however,  recollecting  himself,  he 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  65 

added,  "  It  will  be  but  a  momentary  pang ; "  and 
springing  upon  the  cart,  performed  the  last  offices 
to  himself  with  a  composure  that  excited  the  ad 
miration  and  melted  the  hearts  of  the  beholders. 
Upon  being  told  the  final  moment  was  at  hand,  and 
asked  if  he  had  anything  to  say,  he  answered, 
"  Nothing  but  to  request  you  will  witness  to  the 
world,  that  I  die  like  a  brave  man."  Among  the 
extraordinary  circumstances  that  attended  him,  in 
the  midst  of  his  enemies,  he  died  universally  regret 
ted  and  universally  esteemed. 

There  was  something  singularly  interesting  in 
the  character  and  fortunes  of  Andre.  To  an  excel 
lent  understanding,  well  improved  by  education  and 
travel,  he  united  a  peculiar  elegance  of  mind  and 
manners,  and  the  advantage  of  a  pleasing  person. 
It  is  said  he  possessed  a  pretty  taste  for  the  fine 
arts,  and  had  himself  attained  some  proficiency  in 
poetry,  music,  and  painting.  His  knowledge  ap 
peared  without  ostentation,  and  embellished  by  a 
diffidence  that  rarely  accompanies  so  many  talents 
and  accomplishments,  which  left  you  to  suppose 
more  than  appeared. 

His  sentiments  were  elevated,  and  inspired 
esteem, — they  had  a  softness  that  conciliated 


66  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

affection.  His  elocution  was  handsome ;  his  address 
easy,  polite,  and  insinuating.  By  his  merit  he  had 
acquired  the  unlimited  confidence  of  his  General, 
and  was  making  a  rapid  progress  in  military  rank 
and  reputation.  But  in  the  height  of  his  career, 
flushed  with  new  hopes  from  the  execution  of  a 
project  the  most  beneficial  to  his  party  that  could 
be  devised,  he  was  at  once  precipitated  from  the 
summit  of  prosperity,  and  saw  all  the  expectations 
of  his  ambition  blasted,  and  himself  ruined. 

The  character  I  have  given  of  him,  is  drawn 
partly  from  what  I  saw  of  him  myself,  and  partly 
from  information.  I  am  aware,  that  a  man  of  real 
merit  is  never  seen  in  so  favourable  a  light  as 
through  the  medium  of  adversity.  The  clouds 
that  surround  him  are  shades  that  set  off  his  good 
qualities.  Misfortune  cuts  down  the  little  vanities, 
that  in  prosperous  times  serve  as  so  many  spots  in 
his  virtues,  and  gives  a  tone  of  humility  that  makes 
his  worth  more  amiable.  His  spectators,  who 
enjoy  a  happier  lot,  are  less  prone  to  detract  from 
it  through  envy;  and  are  more  disposed  by  com 
passion  to  give  him  the  credit  he  deserves,  and 
perhaps  even  to  magnify  it. 

I  speak  not  of  Andre's  conduct  in  this  affair  as  a 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  67 

philosopher,  but  as  a  man  of  the  world.  The 
authorized  maxims  and  practices  of  war  are  the 
satires  of  human  nature.  They  countenance 
almost  every  species  of  seduction,  as  well  as 
violence ;  and  the  General  who  can  make  most 
traitors  in  the  army  of  his  adversary  is  frequently 
most  applauded.  On  this  scale  we  acquit  Andre, 
while  we  would  not  but  condemn  him  if  we  were 
to  examine  his  conduct  by  the  sober  rules  of  phi 
losophy  and  moral  rectitude.  It  is,  however,  a 
blemish  on  his  fame,  that  he  once  intended  to 
prostitute  a  flag,  —  about  this,  a  man  of  nice 
honour  ought  to  have  had  a  scruple ;  but  the 
temptation  was  great.  Let  his  misfortunes  cast 
a  veil  over  his  error. 

Several  letters  from  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  and 
others,  were  received  in  the  course  of  the  affair, 
feebly  attempting  to  prove  that  Andre  came  out 
under  the  protection  of  a  flag,  with  a  passport  from 
a  general  officer  in  actual  service ;  and  conse 
quently,  could  not  be  justly  detained.  Clinton 
sent  a  deputation,  composed  of  Lieutenant  Gen 
eral  Robinson,  Mr.  Elliot,  and  Mr.  William  Smith, 
to  represent,  as  he  said,  the  true  state  of  Major 
Andre's  case.  General  Greene  met  Robinson,  and 


68  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

had  a  conversation  with  him,  in  which  he  reiterated 
the  pretence  of  a  flag,  urged  Andre's  release  as  a 
personal  favour  to  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  and  offered 
any  friend  of  ours  in  their  power  in  exchange. 
Nothing  could  have  been  more  frivolous  than  the 
plea  which  was  used.  The  fact  was,  that  besides 
the  time,  manner,  object,  of  the  interview,  change  of 
dress,  and  other  circumstances,  there  was  not  a 
single  formality  customary  with  flags  ;  and  the  pass 
port  was  not  to  Major  Andre,  but  to  Mr.  Anderson. 
But  had  there  been,  on  the  contrary,  all  the  for 
malities,  it  would  be  an  abuse  of  language  to  say, 
that  the  sanction  of  a  flag,  for  corrupting  an  officer 
to  betray  his  trust,  ought  to  be  respected.  So 
unjustifiable  a  purpose  would  not  only  destroy  its 
validity  but  make  it  an  aggravation. 

Andre  himself  has  answered  the  argument  by 
ridiculing  and  exploding  the  idea,  in  his  examina 
tion  before  the  board  of  officers.  It  was  a  weak 
ness  to  urge  it. 

There  was,  in  truth,  no  way  of  saving  him. 
Arnold  or  he  must  have  been  the  victim ;  the 
former  was  out  of  our  power. 

It  was  by  some  suspected,  Arnold  had  taken 
his  measures  in  such  a  manner,  that  if  the  inter- 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  69 

view  had  been  discovered  in  the  act,  it  might  have 
been  in  his  power  to  sacrifice  Andre  to  his  own 
security.  This  surmise  of  double  treachery  made 
them  imagine  Clinton  would  be  induced  to  give 
up  Arnold  for  Andre;  and  a  gentleman  took 
occasion  to  suggest  the  expedient  to  the  latter,  as 
a  thing  that  might  be  proposed  by  him.  He 
declined  it.  The  moment  he  had  been  capable  of 
so  much  frailty  I  should  have  ceased  to  esteem  him. 
The  infamy  of  Arnold's  conduct,  previous  to  his 
desertion,  is  only  equalled  by  his  baseness  since. 
Besides  the  folly  of  writing  to  Sir  Henry  Clinton 
that  Andre  had  acted  under  a  passport  from  him, 
and  according  to  his  directions,  while  commanding 
officer  of  a  post,  and  that  therefore  he  did  not 
doubt  he  would  be  immediately  sent  in,  he  had  the 
effrontery  to  write  to  General  Washington  in  the 
same  spirit,  with  the  addition  of  a  menace  of 
retaliation,  if  the  sentence  should  be  carried  into 
execution.  He  has  since  acted  the  farce  of  send 
ing  in  his  resignation.  This  man  is,  in  every 
sense,  despicable.  In  addition  to  the  scene  of 
knavery  and  prostitution  during  his  command  in 
Philadelphia,  which  the  late  seizure  of  his  papers 
has  unfolded,  the  history  of  his  command  at  West 


70  A   FEW  OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

Point  is  a  history  of  little  as  well  as  great  villanies. 
He  practised  every  art  of  peculation ;  and  even 
stooped  to  connexion  with  the  sutlers  of  the  gar 
rison  to  defraud  the  public. 

To  his  conduct,  that  of  the  captors  of  Andre 
formed  a  striking  contrast.  He  tempted  them  with 
the  offer  of  his  watch,  his  horse,  and  any  sum  of 
money  they  should  name.  They  rejected  his  offers 
with  indignation ;  and  the  gold  that  could  seduce  a 
man  high  in  the  esteem  and  confidence  of  his  coun 
try,  who  had  the  remembrance  of  past  exploits,  the 
motives  of  present  reputation  and  future  glory,  to 
prop  his  integrity,  had  no  charms  for  three  simple 
peasants,  leaning  only  on  their  virtue  and  an  honest 
sense  of  their  duty.  While  Arnold  is  handed  down 
with  execration  to  future  times,  posterity  will  repeat 
with  reverence  the  names  of  Van  Wart,  Paulding, 
and  Williams. 

I  congratulate  my  friend  on  our  happy  escape 
from  the  mischiefs  with  which  this  treason  was 
big.  It  is  a  new  comment  on  the  value  of  an 
honest  man,  and,  if  it  were  possible,  would  endear 
you  to  me  more  than  ever.  Adieu. 

A.  HAMILTON. 


A  FEW  OF   HAMILTON'S  LETTERS  71 

To   MISS    SCHUYLER 

September  25th,  1780. 

.  .  .  Arnold,  hearing  of  the  plot  being  detected, 
immediately  fled  to  the  enemy.  I  went  in  pursuit 
of  him,  but  was  much  too  late ;  and  could  hardly 
regret  the  disappointment  when,  on  my  return,  I 
saw  an  amiable  woman  frantic  with  distress  for 
the  loss  of  a  husband  she  tenderly  loved,  —  a  traitor 
to  his  country  and  his  fame,  —  a  disgrace  to  his 
connexions ;  it  was  the  most  affecting  scene  I  ever 
was  witness  to.  She,  for  a  considerable  time,  lost 
herself.  The  General  went  up  to  see  her,  and  she 
upbraided  him  with  being  in  a  plot  to  murder  her 
child.  One  moment  she  raved,  another  she  melted 
into  tears.  Sometimes  she  pressed  her  infant  to 
her  bosom,  and  lamented  its  fate,  occasioned  by 
the  imprudence  of  its  father,  in  a  manner  that 
would  have  pierced  insensibility  itself.  All  the 
sweetness  of  beauty,  all  the  loveliness  of  innocence, 
all  the  tenderness  of  a  wife,  and  all  the  fondness 
of  a  mother,  showed  themselves  in  her  appearance 
and  conduct.  We  have  every  reason  to  believe 
that  she  was  entirely  unacquainted  with  the  plan, 


72  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

and  that  the  first  knowledge  of  it  was  when  Arnold 
went  to  tell  her  he  must  banish  himself  from 
his  country  and  from  her  for  ever.  She  instantly 
fell  into  a  convulsion,  and  he  left  her  in  that  situa 
tion. 

This  morning  she  is  more  composed.  I  paid 
her  a  visit,  and  endeavoured  to  soothe  her  by  every 
method  in  my  power;  though  you  may  imagine 
she  is  not  easily  to  be  consoled.  Added  to  her 
other  distresses,  she  is  very  apprehensive  the  re 
sentments  of  her  country  will  fall  upon  her  (who 
is  only  unfortunate)  for  the  guilt  of  her  husband. 

I  have  tried  to  persuade  her  that  her  fears  are 
ill-founded  ;  but  she  will  not  be  convinced.  She 
received  us  in  bed,  with  every  circumstance  that 
would  interest  our  sympathy,  and  her  sufferings 
were  so  eloquent,  that  I  wished  myself  her  brother, 
to  have  a  right  to  become  her  defender,  —  as  it  is 
I  have  entreated  her  to  enable  me  to  give  her 
proofs  of  my  friendship.  Could  I  forgive  Arnold 
for  sacrificing  his  honour,  reputation,  and  duty,  I 
could  not  forgive  him  for  acting  a  part  that  must 
have  forfeited  the  esteem  of  so  fine  a  woman.  At 
present  she  almost  forgets  his 


tunes;  and  her  horror  at  the  guilt  of  the  traitor, 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  73 

is  lost  in  her  love  of  the  man.  But  a  virtuous 
mind  cannot  long  esteem  a  base  one,  and  time 
will  make  her  despise,  if  it  cannot  make  her  hate. 

To   MISS   SCHUYLER 

TAPPAN,  Oct.  2, 1780. 

Poor  Andre  suffers  to-day;  everything  that  is 
amiable  in  virtue,  in  fortitude,  in  delicate  sentiment, 
and  accomplished  manners  pleads  for  him ;  but 
hard-hearted  policy  calls  for  a  sacrifice.  He  must 
die  —  I  send  you  my  account  of  Arnold's  affair, 
and  to  justify  myself  to  your  sentiments,  I  must 
inform  you,  that  I  urged  a  compliance  with  Andre's 
request  to  be  shot,  and  I  do  not  think  it  would 
have  had  an  ill  effect,  but  some  people  are  only 
sensible  to  motives  of  policy,  and  sometimes,  from 
a  narrow  disposition,  mistake  it. 

When  Andre's  tale  comes  to  be  told,  and  present 
resentment  is  over,  —  the  refusing  him  the  privilege 
of  choosing  the  manner  of  his  death  will  be 
branded  with  too  much  obstinacy. 

It  was  proposed  to  me  to  suggest  to  him  the 
idea  of  an  exchange  for  Arnold ;  but  I  knew  I 
should  have  forfeited  his  esteem  for  doing  it,  and 


74  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

therefore  declined  it.  As  a  man  of  honour,  he  could 
not  but  reject  it ;  and  I  would  not  for  the  world 
have  proposed  to  him  a  thing  which  must  have 
placed  me  in  the  unamiable  light  of  supposing  him 
capable  of  a  meanness,  or  of  not  feeling,  myself, 
the  impropriety  of  the  measure.  I  confess  to  you, 
I  had  the  weakness  to  value  the  esteem  of  a  dying 
man  because  I  reverenced  his  merit. 


To   ELIZABETH    SCHUYLER1 

October  I3th,  1780. 

I  would  not  have  you  imagine,  Miss,  that  I  write 
you  so  often  to  gratify  your  wishes  or  please  your 
vanity ;  but  merely  to  indulge  myself,  and  to  com 
ply  with  that  restless  propensity  of  my  mind  which 
will  not  be  happy  unless  I  am  doing  something  in 
which  you  are  concerned.  This  may  seem  a  very 
idle  disposition  in  a  philosopher  and  a  soldier,  but 
I  can  plead  illustrious  examples  in  my  justification. 
Achilles  liked  to  have  sacrificed  Greece  and  his 
glory  to  a  female  captive,  and  Anthony  lost  a 
world  for  a  woman.  I  am  very  sorry  times  are 

1  This  letter  was  first  published  in  Martha  Lamb's  "  History  of  New 
York." 


A  FEW  OF  HAMILTON'S  LETTERS  75 

so  changed  as  to  oblige  me  to  go  to  antiquity  for 
my  apology,  but  I  confess,  to  the  disgrace  of  the 
present  time,  that  I  have  not  been  able  to  find  as 
many  who  are  as  far  gone  as  myself  in  the  laudable 
Zeal  of  the  fair  sex.  I  suspect,  however,  if  others 
knew  the  charm  of  my  sweetheart  as  I  do,  I  could 
have  a  great  number  of  competitors.  I  wish  I 
could  give  an  idea  of  her.  You  can  have  no 
conception  of  how  sweet  a  girl  she  is.  It  is  only 
in  my  heart  that  her  image  is  truly  drawn.  She 
has  a  lovely  form  and  still  more  lovely  mind. 
She  is  all  goodness,  the  gentlest,  the  dearest,  the 
tenderest  of  her  sex.  Ah,  Betsey,  how  I  love  her! 

Two  days  since  I  wrote  to  you,  my  dear  girl,  and 
sent  the  letter  to  the  care  of  Colonel  Morris :  there 
was  with  it  a  bundle  to  your  mamma,  directed  to  your 
father,  containing  a  cloak  which  Miss  Livingston  sent 
to  my  care.  I  enclosed  you  in  that  letter  one  to  my 
friend  Laurens  with  an  account  of  Arnold's  affair. 
I  mention  this  for  fear  of  a  miscarriage  as  usual. 

Well,  my  love,  here  is  the  middle  of  October ;  a 
few  weeks  more  and  you  are  mine ;  a  sweet  reflec 
tion  to  me  —  is  it  so  to  my  charmer?  Do  you 
find  yourself  more  or  less  anxious  for  the  moment 
to  arrive  as  it  approaches  ?  This  is  a  good  criterion 


76  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

to  determine  the  degree  of  your  affection  by.  You 
have  had  an  age  for  consideration,  time  enough 
for  even  a  woman  to  know  her  mind  in.  Do  you 
begin  to  repent  or  not  ?  Remember  you  are  going 
to  do  a  very  serious  thing.  For  though  our  sex 
have  generously  given  up  a  part  of  its  prerogatives, 
and  husbands  have  no  longer  the  power  of  life 
and  death,  as  the  wiser  husbands  of  former  days 
had,  yet  we  still  retain  the  power  of  happiness 
and  misery;  and  if  you  are  prudent  you  will  not 
trust  the  felicity  of  your  future  life  to  one  in 
whom  you  have  not  good  reason  for  implicit  con 
fidence.  I  give  you  warning  —  don't  blame  me  if 
you  make  an  injudicious  choice — and  if  you  should 
be  disposed  to  retract,  don't  give  me  the  trouble 
of  a  journey  to  Albany,  and  then  do  as  did  a  cer 
tain  lady  I  have  mentioned  to  you,  find  out  the 
day  before  we  are  to  be  married  that  you  '  can't 
like  the  man ' ;  but  of  all  things  I  pray  you  don't 
make  the  discovery  afterwards  —  for  this  would 
be  worse  than  all.  But  I  do  not  apprehend  its 
being  the  case.  I  think  we  know  each  other  well 
enough  to  understand  each  other's  feelings,  and 
to  be  sure  our  affection  will  not  only  last  but  be 
progressive. 


A   FEW  OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  77 

I  stopped  to  read  over  my  letter  —  it  is  a  motley 
mixture  of  fond  extravagance  and  sprightly  dull 
ness:  the  truth  is  I  am  too  much  in  love  to  be 
either  reasonable  or  witty :  I  feel  in  the  extreme  ; 
and  when  I  attempt  to  speak  of  my  feelings  I  rave. 
I  have  remarked  to  you  before  that  real  tenderness 
has  also  a  tincture  of  sadness,  and  when  I  affect 
the  lively  my  melting  heart  rebels.  It  is  separated 
from  you  and  it  cannot  be  cheerful.  Love  is  a 
sort  of  insanity  and  everything  I  write  savors 
strongly  of  it ;  that  you  return  it  is  the  best  proof 
of  your  madness  also.  I  tell  you,  my  Betsey,  you 
are  negligent;  you  do  not  write  me  often  enough. 
Take  more  care  of  my  happiness,  for  there  is 
nothing  your  Hamilton  would  not  do  to  promote 
yours. 

To  THE   HON.   JAMES   DUANE 

LIBERTY  POLE,  Sept.  3,  1780. 

Dear  Sir,  —  Agreeable  to  your  request,  and  my 
promise,  I  sit  down  to  give  you  my  ideas  of  the 
defects  of  our  present  system,  and  the  changes 
necessary  to  save  us  from  ruin.  They  may,  per 
haps,  be  the  reveries  of  a  projector,  rather  than 


78  A   FEW  OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

the  sober  views  of  a  politician.  You  will  judge 
of  them,  and  make  what  use  you  please  of 
them. 

The  fundamental  defect  is  a  want  of  power  in 
It   is   hardly  worth  while   to  ^show  in 


what  this  consists,  as  it  seems  to  be  universally 
acknowledged  ;  or  to  point  out  how  it  has  happened, 
as  the  only  question  is  how  to  remedy  it.  It  may, 
however,  be  said,  that  it  has  originated  from  three 
causes,  —  an  excess  of  the  spirit  of  ^liberty,  wTitdf' 
has  made  the  particular  states  show  a  jealousy  of 
all  power  not  in  their  own  hands  ;  and  this  jealousy 
has  led  them  to  exercise  a  right  of  judging,  in 
the  last  resort,  of  the  measures  recommended  by 
congress,  and  of  acting  according  to  their  own 
opinions  of  their  propriety  or  necessity  ;  —  a  diffi 
dence  in  congress  of  their  own  powers,  by  which 

iilHecisive  in  their  reso 

lutions;     constantly    making    concessions    to    the 
states,  till  they  have  scarcely  left  themselves   the 
shadow  of  power;  —  a^3a^Liifc--ei~su^Bcient  means  at 
answer  the  public  exigencies,  and 


of  vigour  to  draw  forth  those  means,  which  have 
occasioned  them  to  depend  on  the  states,  individu 
ally,  to  fulfil  their  engagements  with  the  army; 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  79 

the  consequence  of  which  has  been  to  ruin  their 
influence  and  credit  with  the  army,  to  establish 
its  dependence  on  each  state,  separately,  rather 
than  on  them;  that  is,  than  on  the  whole  collec 
tively. 

IJt  may  be  pleaded  that  congress  had  never  any 
definitive  powers  granted  them,  and  of  course  could 
exercise  none,  —  could  do  nothing  more  than  rec 
ommend.  The  manner  in  which  congress  was 
appointed  would  warrant,  and  the  public  good 
required,  that  they  should  have  considered  them 
selves  as  vested  with  full  power  to  preserve  the 
republic  from  harm. 

They  have  done  many  of  the  highest  acts  of 
sovereignty,  which  were  always  cheerfully  sub 
mitted  to;  the  declaration  of  independence,  the 
declaration  of  war,  the  levying  an  army,  creating 
a  navy,  emitting  money,  making  alliances  with 
foreign  powers,  appointing  a  dictator,  &c.,  &c. ;  all 
these  were  implications  of  a  complete  sovereignty, 
were  never  disputed,  and  ought  to  have  been  a 
standard  for  the  whole  conduct  of  administration. 
Undefined  powers  are  discretionary  powers,  limited 
only  by  the  object  for  which  they  were  given ;  in 
the  present  case,  the  independence  and  freedom 


8o  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S  LETTERS 

of  America.  The  confederation  made  no  differ 
ence;  for  as  it  has  not  been  generally  adopted,  it 
had  no  operation. 

But,  from  what  I  recollect  of  it,  congress  have 
even  descended  from  the  authority  which  the  spirit 
of  that  act  gives  them;  while  the  particular  states 
have  no  farther  attended  to  it,  than  as  it  suited 
their  pretensions  and  convenience.     It  would  take 
too  much  time  to  enter  into  particular  instances ; 
each  of  which,  separately,  might  appear  inconsider 
able,    but   united   are   of   serious   import.      I    only 
mean  to  remark,  not  to  censure.  ' 
/    But    the    confederation   itself^Ts    defective,    and 
/  requires   to   be   altered ;_  it   is  neither  fit  for  war, 
I    nor  peace.     The   idea  of  an  uncontrollable   sover- 
\  eignty  in  each  state,  over  its  internal  police,  will 
I  defeat   the   other  powers   given   to    congress,    and 
1  make  our  union  feeble  and  precarious.     There  are 
instances,    without    number,   where   acts   necessary 
for  the  general  good,  and  which  rise  out  of  the 
powers  given  to  congress,  must  interfere  with  the 
internal    police   of    the   states;    and    there   are   as 
many  instances  in  which  the  particular  states,  by 
arrangements    of    internal    police,    can    effectually, 
though  indirectly,  counteract  the  arrangements  of 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  81 

congress.  You  have  already  had  examples  of  this, 
for  which  I  refer  you  to  your  own  memory. 

The  confederation  gives  the  states,  individually, 
too  much  influence  in  the  affairs  of  the  army ;  they 
should  have  nothing  to  do  with  it. 

The  entire  formation  and  disposal  of  our  mili 
tary  forces  ought  to  belong  to  congress.  It  is  an 
essential  cement  of  the  union ;  and  it  ought  to  be 
the  policy  of  congress  to  destroy  all  ideas  of  state 
attachments  in  the  army,  and  make  it  look  up 
wholly  to  them.  For  this  purpose  all  appoint 
ments,  promotions,  and  provisions  whatsoever, 
ought  to  be  made  by  them.  It  may  be  appre 
hended  that  this  may  be  dangerous  to  liberty. 
But  nothing  appears  more  evident  to  me,  than  that 
we  run  much  greater  risk  of  having  a  weak  and 
disunited  Federal  government,  than  one  which 
will  be  able  to  usurp  upon  the  rights  of  the 
people. 

Already  some  of  the  lines  of  the  army  would 
obey  their  states  in  opposition  to  congress,  notwith 
standing  the  pains  we  have  taken  to  preserve  the 
unity  of  the  army.  If  anything  would  hinder  this, 
it  would  be  the  personal  influence  of  the  General  — 
a  melancholy  and  mortifying  consideration.  The 


82  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

forms  of  our  state  constitutions  must  always  give 
them  great  weight  in  our  affairs,  and  will  make  it 
too  difficult  to  blind  them  to  the  pursuit  of  a  com 
mon  interest,  too  easy  to  oppose  whatever  they  do 
not  like,  and  to  form  partial  combinations,  subver 
sive  of  the  general  one.  There  is  a  wide  difference 
between  our  situation  and  that  of  an  empire  under 
one  simple  form  of  government,  distributed  into 
counties,  provinces,  or  districts,  which  have  no 
legislatures,  but  merely  magistratical  bodies  to 
execute  the  laws  of  a  common  sovereign.  Here 
the  danger  is  that  the  sovereign  will  have  too  much 
power,  and  oppress  the  parts  of  which  it  is  com 
posed.  In  our  case,  that  of  an  empire  composed 
of  confederative  states,  each  with  a  government 
completely  organized  within  itself,  having  all  the 
means  to  draw  its  subjects  to  a  close  dependence^ 

«^K 

on  itself,  the  danger  is  directly  the  reverse.    fit  is  ; 
that   the  common  sovereign  will   not   have   power 
sufficient  to  unite  the  different  members  together, 
and  direct  the  common  forces  to  the  interest  and 
happiness  of  the  whole. 

The  leagues  among  the  old  Grecian  republics 
are  a  proof  of  this.  They  were  continually  at 
war  with  each  other,  and  for  want  of  union  fell 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  83 

a  prey  to  their  neighbours.  They  frequently  held 
general  councils,  but  their  resolutions  were  no 
farther  observed,  than  as  they  suited  the  interests 
and  inclinations  of  all  the  parties,  and,  at  length, 
they  sank  entirely  into  contempt. 

The  Swiss  cantons  are  another  proof  of  the  doc 
trine.  They  have  had  wars  with  each  other,  which 
would  have  been  fatal  to  them,  had  not  the  differ 
ent  powers  in  their  neighbourhood  been  too  jealous 
of  one  another,  and  too  equally  matched,  to  suffer 
either  to  take  advantage  of  their  quarrels.  That 
they  have  remained  so  long  united  at  all,  is  to  be 
attributed  to  their  weakness,  to  their  poverty,  and 
to  the  cause  just  mentioned.  These  ties  will  not 
exist  in  America.  A  little  time  hence,  some  of 
the  states  will  be  powerful  empires;  and  we  are 
so  remote  from  other  nations,  that  we  shall  have 
all  the  leisure  and  opportunity  we  can  wish  to  cut 
each  other's  throats. 

The  Germanic  corps  might  also  be  cited  as  an 
example  in  favour  of  the  position. 

The  United  Provinces  may  be  thought  to  be  one 
against  it.  But  the  family  of  the  Stadtholders, 
whose  authority  is  interwoven  with  the  whole  gov 
ernment,  has  been  a  strong  link  of  union  between 


84  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S  LETTERS 

them.  Their  physical  necessities,  and  the  habits 
founded  upon  them,  have  contributed  to  it.  Each 
province  is  too  inconsiderable  by  itself  to  undertake 
anything.  An  analysis  of  their  present  constitution 
would  show,  that  they  have  many  ties  which  would 
not  exist  in  ours ;  and  that  they  are  by  no  means  a 
proper  model  for  us. 

Our  own  experience  should  satisfy  us.  We  have 
felt  the  difficulty  of  drawing  out  the  resources  of 
the  country,  and  inducing  the  states  to  combine  in 
equal  exertions  for  the  common  cause.  The  ill  suc 
cess  of  our  last  attempt  is  striking.  Some  have 
done  a  great  deal ;  others  little,  or  scarcely  any 
thing.  The  disputes  about  boundaries,  &c.,  testify 
how  flattering  a  prospect  we  have  of  future  tran 
quillity,  if  we  do  not  frame  in  time  a  confederacy 
capable  of  deciding  the  differences,  and  compelling 
the  obedience  of  the  respective  members. 

The  conieder^on^J^o-^ivQ^'^^-^oy^r  of  the 

pnrgp     i-pp     Pntirfly     ff|     fhf     statfi— ^gH**"™^          It 

should  provide  perpetual  funds  in  the  disposal  of 
congress,  by  a  land  tax,  poll  tax,  or  the  like.  All 
imposts  upon  commerce  ought  to  be  laid  by  con 
gress,  and  appropriated  to  their  use;  for  without 
certain  revenues,  a  government  can  have  no  power ; 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  85 

that  power  which  holds  the  purse  strings  absolutely, 
must  rule.  This  seems  to  be  a  medium,  which, 
without  making  congress  altogether  independent, 

tend  to  give  reality  to  its  authority. 
Another  defect  in  our  system  is,  want  of  method 
and  energy  in  the  administration.     This  has  partly 
esulLed  froru^the  other  defect ;  but  in  a  great  de 
gree  from  prejudice  and  the  want  of  a  proper  execu 
tive.     Congress  have  kept  the  power  too  much  in 
their  own  hands,  and  have  meddled  too  much  with 
details  of  every  sort.     Congress  is  properly  a  delib- 
irative  corps,  and  it  forgets  itself  when  it  attempts 
o  play  the  executive.     It  is  impossible  that  a  body, 
numerous  as  it  is,  constantly  fluctuating,  can  ever 
ict  with  sufficient  decision,  or  with  system.     Two 
hirds  of   the  members,  one-half  the  time    cannot 
enow  what  has  gone   before    them,   or  what  con- 
lexion  the  subject  in  hand  has  to  what  has  been 
iransacted  on  former  occasions.    The  members  who 
lave  been  more  permanent,  will  only  give  informa- 
;ion  that  promotes  the  side  they  espouse,  in  the 
Dresent  case,  and  will  as  often  mislead  as  enlighten. 
The   variety   of   business    must    distract,    and   the 
Droneness  of  every  assembly  to  debate,  must  at  all 
imes  delay. 


86  A  FEW  OF   HAMILTON'S  LETTERS 

Lately,  congress,  convinced  of  these  inconven 
iences,  have  gone  into  the  measure  of  appointing 
boards.  But  this  is,  in  iny-opiniorva  bad  plan.  A 
"man  in  each  department  of  the  administra 
tion,  would  be  greatly  preferable.  It  would  give  us 
a  chance  of  more  knowledge,  more  activity,  more 
V  resPonsibih'ty,  and,  of  course,  more  zeal  and  attgn- 
tion.  Boards  partake  of  a  part  of  the  inconveniences 
of  larger  assemblies;  —  their  decisions  are  slower, 
their  energy  less,  their  responsibilities  more  dif 
fused.  They  will  not  have  the  same  abilities  and 
knowledge  as  an  administration  by  single  men. 
Men  of  the  first  pretensions  will  not  so  readily 
engage  in  them,  because  they  will  be  less  conspicu 
ous,  of  less  importance,  have  less  opportunity  of 
distinguishing  themselves.  The  members  of  boards 
will  take  less  pains  to  inform  themselves  and  arrive 
at  eminence,  because  they  have  fewer  motives  to  do 
it.  All  these  reasons  conspire  to  give  a  preference 
to  the  plan  of  vesting  the  great  executive  depart 
ments  of  the  state  in  the  hands  of  individuals.  As 
these  men  will  be,  of  course,  at  all  times  under  the 
direction  of  congress,  we  shall  blend  the  advan 
tages  of  a  monarchy  and  republic  in  one  constitution. 
A  question  has  been  made,  whether  single  men 


A   FEW   OF  HAMILTON'S  LETTERS  87 

could  be  found  to  undertake  these  offices.  I  think 
they  could ;  because  there  would  be  then  every 
thing  to  excite  the  ambition  of  candidates.  But  in 
order  to  this,  congress,  by  their  manner  of  appoint 
ing  them,  and  the  line  of  duty  marked  out,  must 
show  that  they  are  in  earnest  in  making  these 
offices,  offices  of  real  trust  and  importance. 

I  fear  a  little  vanity  has  stood  in  the  way  of  these 
arrangements,  as  though  they  would  lessen  the 
importance  of  congress,  and  leave  them  nothing 
to  do.  But  they  would  have  precisely  the  same 
rights  and  powers  as  heretofore,  happily  disencum 
bered  of  the  detail.  They  would  have  to  inspect 
the  conduct  of  their  ministers,  deliberate  upon  their 
plans,  originate  others  for  the  public  good,  —  only 
observing  this  rule,  that  they  ought  to  consult  their 
ministers,  and  get  all  the  information  and  advice 
they  could  from  them,  before  they  entered  into  any 
new  measures,  or  made  changes  in  the  old. 

ourarm^u  This  has  been  a  pregnant  source  of 
il  |  —  all  our  military  misfortunes,  three-fourths 
of  our  civil  embarrassments,  are  to  be  ascribed  to 
it.  The  General  has  so  fully  enumerated  the  mis 
chiefs,  in  a  late  letter  to  congress,  that  I  could  only 


88  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

repeat  what  he  has  said,  and  will,  therefore,  refer 
you  to  that  letter. 

The  imperfect  and  unequal  provisiojuyiade  for 
[e  army,  is  a  fourth  derectpwhich  you  will  find 
deljjijea^etHftrTliesame  letter.  Without  a  speedy 
change,  the  army  must  dissolve ;  —  it  is  now  a  mob 
rather  than  an  army,  —  without  clothing,  without 
pay,  without  provision,  without  morals,  without  dis 
cipline.  We  begin  to  hate  the  country  for  its 
neglect  of  us ;  the  country  begins  to  hate  us  for  our 
oppressions  of  them.  Congress  have  long  been 
jealous  of  us ;  we  have  now  lost  all  confidence  in 
them,  and  give  the  worst  construction  to  all  they 
do.  Held  together  by  the  slenderest  ties,  we  are 
ripening  for  a  dissolution. 

The  present  mode  of  supplying  the  army  by 
state  purchases  is  not  one  of  the  least  considerable 
defects  of  our  system.  It  is  too  precarious  a  depend 
ence,  because  the  states  will  never  be  sufficiently 
impressed  with  our  necessities.  Each  will  make  its 
own  ease  a  primary  object,  the  supply  of  the  army 
a  secondary  one.  The  variety  of  channels  through 
which  the  business  is  transacted,  will  multiply  the 
number  of  persons  employed,  and  the  opportunities 
of  embezzling  public  money.  From  the  popular 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  89 

spirit  on  which  most  of  the  governments  turn,  the 
state  agents  will  be  men  of  less  character  and 
ability;  nor  will  there  be  so  rigid  a  responsibility 
among  them  as  there  might  easily  be  among  those 
in  the  employ  of  the  continent;  of  course  not  so 
much  diligence,  care,  or  economy.  Very  little  of 
the  money  raised  in  the  several  states  will  go  into 
the  continental  treasury,  on  pretence  that  it  is 
all  exhausted  in  providing  the  quotas  of  supplies, 
and  the  public  will  be  without  funds  for  the  other 
demands  of  government.  The  expense  will  be 
ultimately  much  greater,  and  the  advantage  much 
smaller.  We  actually  feel  the  insufficiency  of  this 
plan,  and  have  reason  to  dread,  under  it,  a  ruinous 
extremity  of  want. 

These  are  the  principal  defects  in  the  present 
system  that  now  occur  to  me.  There  are  many 
inferior  ones  in  the  organization  of  particular 
departments,  and  many  errors  of  administration, 
which  might  be  pointed  out ;  but  the  task  would 
be  troublesome  and  tedious,  and  if  we  had  once 
remedied  those  I  have  mentioned,  the  others  would 
not  be  attended  with  much  difficulty. 

I  shall  now  propose  the  remedies  which  appear 
to  me  applicable  to  our  circumstances,  and  neces- 


9o  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

sary   to    extricate    our   affairs   from   their   present 
deplorable  situation. 

Tfaf  first  rtf»r  rmint  h»  t"  giV  ^r*j--« 


competent  to  the  public^^^ejdgeTicies.  This  may 
iappen  in  two  ways  :  one  by  resuming  and  exercis 
ing  the  discretionary  powers  I  suppose  to  have 
been  originally  vested  in  them  for  the  safety  of 
the  states,  and  resting  their  conduct  on  the  can 
dour  of  their  countrymen  and  the  necessity  of  the 
conjuncture;  the  other,  by  calling  immediately  a 
convention  of  all  the  states,  with  full  authority 
to  conclude  finally  upon  a  general  confederation, 
stating  to  them  beforehand  explicitly  the  evils 
arising  from  a  want  of  power  in  congress,  and  the 
impossibility  of  supporting  the  contest  on  its  pres 
ent  footing,  that  the  delegates  may  come  possessed 
of  proper  sentiments,  as  well  as  proper  authority, 
to  give  efficacy  to  the  meeting.  Their  commission 
should  include  a  right  of  vesting  congress  with  the 
whole  or  a  proportion  of  the  unoccupied  lands,  to 
be  employed  for  the  purpose  of  raising  a  revenue, 
reserving  the  jurisdiction  to  the  states  by  whom 
they  are  granted. 

The  first  plan,  I  expect,  will  be  thought  too  bold 
an  expedient  by  the  generality  of   congress  ;    and, 


A   FEW  OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  91 

indeed,  their  practice  hitherto  has  so  riveted  the 
opinion  of  their  want  of  power,  that  the  success  of 
this  experiment  may  very  well  be  doubted. 

I  see  no  objection  to  the  other  mode  that  has 
any  weight  in  competition  with  the  reasons  for  it. 
The  convention  should  assemble  the  first  of 
November  next;  the  sooner  the  better;  our  dis 
orders  are  too  violent  to  admit  of  a  common  or 
lingering  remedy.  The  reasons  for  which  I  re 
quire  them  to  be  vested  with  plenipotentiary 
authority  are,  that  the  business  may  suffer  no 
delay  in  the  execution,  and  may  in  reality  come  to 
effect.  A  convention  may  agree  upon  a  confedera 
tion  ;  the  states,  individually,  hardly  ever  will.  We 
must  have  one,  at  all  events,  and  a  vigorous  one;  if 
we  mean  to  succeed  in  the  contest  and  be  happy 
hereafter.  As  I  said  before,  to  engage  the  states  to 
comply  with  this  mode,  congress  ought  to  confess  to 
them,  plainly  and  unanimously,  the  impracticability 
of  supporting  our  affairs  on  the  present  footing,  and 
without  a  solid  coercive  union.  I  ask  that  the  con 
vention  should  have  a  power  of  vesting  the  whole 
or  a  part  of  the  unoccupied  lands  in  congress, 
because  it  is  necessary  that  body  should  have 
some  property,  as  a  fund  for  the  arrangements  of 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 


finance  ;  and  I  know  of  no  other  kind  that  can  be 
given  them. 

The  confederation,  in  mj  Qpim'on,  should  give 

congress  a  complete  spjyere.ign.ty  .;.  except  as  to  that 
part  dfmternal  police  which  relates  to  the  rights 
of  property  and  life  among  individuals,  and  to 
raising  money  by  internal  taxes.  It  is  necessary 
that  everything  belonging  to  this  should  be  regu 
lated  by  the  state  legislatures.  Congress  should 
have  -complete;  suvciolgnty  in  all  that  relates  to 

w»y,   pnnrp,  trnrl^   finrmpf,    n  ncL  fp    th  p 


of  foreign  affairs;  the  right  of  declaring  war,  of 
raising  armies,  officering,  paying  them,  directing 
their  motions  in  every  respect;  of  equipping  fleets, 
and  doing  the  same  with  them;  of  building  forti 
fications,  arsenals,  magazines,  &c.,  &c.  ;  of  making 
peace  on  such  conditions  as  they  think  proper;  of 
regulating  trade,  determining  with  what  countries  it 
shall  be  carried  on  ;  granting  indulgences  ;  laying 
prohibitions  on  all  the  articles  of  export  or  import; 
imposing  duties,  granting  bounties  and  premiums 
for  raising,  exporting  or  importing;  and  applying 
to  their  own  use  the  product  of  these  duties,  only 
giving  credit  to  the  states  on  whom  they  are  raised 
in  the  general  account  of  revenues  and  expense; 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 


93 


instituting  admiralty  courts,  &c. ;  of  coining  money, 
establishing  banks  on  such  terms,  and  with  such 
privileges,  as  they  think  proper;  appropriating 
funds,  and  doing  whatever  else  relates  to  the 
operations  of  finance;  transacting  everything  with 
foreign  nations ;  making  alliances,  offensive  and 
defensive,  treaties  of  commerce,  &c.,  &c. 

The  confederation  should  provide  certain  per 
petual  revenues,  productive  and  easy  of  collection ; 
a  land  tax,  poll  tax,  or  the  like,  which,  together 
with  the  duties  on  trade,  and  the  unlocated  lands, 
would  give  congress  a  substantial  existence,  and 
a  stable  foundation  for  their  schemes  of  finance. 
What  more  supplies  were  necessary,  should  be 
occasionally  demanded  of  the  states,  in  the  present 
[mode  of  quotas. 

The  second  step  I  would  recommend  is,  that  con- 
[gress  should  instantly  appoint  the  following  great 
officers  of  state:  A  Secretary  for  Foreign  Affairs; 
a  President  of  War ;  a  President  of  Marine ;  A 
Financier;  a  President  of  Trade;  instead  of  this 
last,  a  Board  of  Trade  may  be  preferable,  as  the 
regulations  of  trade  are  slow  and  guarded,  and 
(require  prudence  and  experience,  (more  than  other 
Lualities,)  for  which  boards  are  very  well  adapted. 


94  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

Congress  should  choose  for  these  offices,  men 
of  the  first  abilities,  property,  and  character,  in 
the  continent;  and  such  as  have  had  the  best 
opportunities  of  being  acquainted  with  the  several 
branches.  General  Schuyler,  whom  you  men 
tioned,  would  make  an  excellent  President  of 
War;  General  McDougal  a  very  good  President 
of  Marine ;  Mr.  Robert  Morris  would  have  many 
things  in  his  favour  for  the  department  of  Fi 
nance.  He  could,  by  his  own  personal  influence, 
give  great  weight  to  the  measures  he  should 
adopt.  I  dare  say,  men  equally  capable  may  be 
found  for  the  other  departments. 

I  know  not  if  it  would  not  be  a  good  plan  to  let 
the  Financier  be  President  of  the  Board  of  Trade; 
but  he  should  only  have  a  casting  voice  in  deter 
mining  questions  there.  There  is  a  connexion 
between  trade  and  finance,  which  ought  to  make 
the  director  of  one  acquainted  with  the  other; 
but  the  financier  should  not  direct  the  affairs  of 
trade,  because,  for  the  sake  of  acquiring  reputa 
tion  by  increasing  the  revenues,  he  might  adopt 
measures  that  would  depress  trade.  In  what  re 
lates  to  finance  he  should  be  alone. 

These    officers    should    have    nearly   the    same 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  95 

powers  and  functions  as  those  in  France  analogous 
to  them,  and  each  should  be  chief  in  his  depart 
ment,  with  subordinate  boards,  composed  of  assist 
ants,  clerks,  &c.,  execute  his  orders. 

In  my  opinion,  a  plan  of  this  kind  would  be  of 
inconceivable  utility  to  our  affairs ;  its  benefits 
would  be  very  speedily  felt.  It  would  give  new  life 
and  energy  to  the  operations  of  government.  Busi 
ness  would  be  conducted  with  despatch,  method, 
and  system.  A  million  of  abuses  now  existing 
would  be  corrected,  and  judicious  plans  would  be 
formed  and  executed  for  the  public  good. 

An^tk «i'ii  nf .  I'mmfifjpfA  n^^ggify  is./to  re- 

army  fr>r  the  war,  or  at  least,  for  three 
must  be  done  by  a  mode  similar  to 
that  which  is  practiced  in  Sweden.  There  the  in 
habitants  are  thrown  into  classes  of  sixteen,  and 
when  the  sovereign  wants  men  each  of  these  classes 
must  furnish  one.  They  raise  a  fixed  sum  of 
money,  and  if  one  of  the  class  is  willing  to  become 
a  soldier,  he  receives  the  money  and  offers  himself  a 
volunteer;  if  none  is  found  to  do  this,  a  draft  is 
made,  and  he  on  whom  the  lot  falls  receives  the 
money  and  is  obliged  to  serve.  The  minds  of 
the  people  are  prepared  for  a  thing  of  this  kind  ;  the 


96  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

heavy  bounties  they  have  been  obliged  to  pay  for 
men  to  serve  a  few  months  must  have  disgusted 
them  with  this  mode,  and  made  them  desirous  of 
another,  that  will,  once  for  all,  answer  the  public 
purposes,  and  obviate  a  repetition  of  the  demand. 
It  ought  by  all  means  to  be  attempted;  and  con 
gress  should  frame  a  general  plan,  and  press  the 
execution  upon  the  states.  When  the  confedera 
tion  comes  to  be  framed,  it  ought  to  provide  for  this, 
by  a  fundamental  law;  and  hereafter  there  would 
be  no  doubt  of  the  success.  But  we  cannot  now 
wait  for  this  :  we  want  to  replace  the  men  whose 
time  of  service  will  expire  the  first  of  January ;  for 
then,  without  this,  we  shall  have  no  army  remain 
ing,  and  the  enemy  may  do  what  they  please.  The 
General,  in  his  letter  already  quoted,  has  assigned 
the  most  substantial  reasons  for  paying  immediate 
attention  to  this  point. 

Congress  should  endeavour,  both  upon  their 
credit  in  Europe,  and  by  every  possible  exertion  in 
this  country,  to  provide  clothing  for  their  officers, 
and  should  abolish  the  whole  system  of  state  sup 
plies.  The  making  good  the  depreciation  of  the 
currency,  and  all  other  compensations  to  the  army, 
should  be  immediately  taken  up  by  congress, 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  97 

and  not  left  to  the  states ;  if  they  would  have  the 
accounts  of  depreciation  liquidated,  and  govern 
mental  certificates  given  for  what  is  due,  in  specie 
or  an  equivalent  to  specie,  it  would  give  satis 
faction,  appointing  periodical  settlements  for  future 
depreciation. 

The  placing  the  officers  upon  half-pay,  during  life, 
would  be  a  great  stroke  of  policy,  and  would  give 
congress  a  stronger  tie  upon  them  than  anything 
else  they  can  do.  No  man,  that  reflects  a  moment, 
but  will  prefer  a  permanent  provision  of  this  kind, 
to  any  temporary  compensation ;  nor  is  it  opposed 
to  economy;  the  difference  between  this,  and  what 
has  already  been  done,  will  be  insignificant.  The 
benefit  of  it  to  the  widows,  should  be  confined  to 
those  whose  husbands  die  during  the  war.  As  to 
the  survivors,  not  more  than  one  half,  on  the  usual 
calculation  of  men's  lives,  will  exceed  the  seven 
years  for  which  the  half-pay  is  already  established. 
Besides  this,  whatever  may  be  the  visionary  specu 
lations  of  some  men  at  this  time,  we  shall  find  it 
indispensable,  after  the  war,  to  keep  on  foot  a  con 
siderable  body  of  troops ;  and  all  the  officers 
retained  for  this  purpose  must  be  deducted  out  of 
the  half-pay  list  If  anyone  will  take  the  pains  to 


98  A   FEW  OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

calculate  the  expense  on  these  principles,  I  am  per 
suaded  he  will  find  the  addition  of  expense  from 
the  establishment  proposed,  by  no  means,  a  national 
object. 

The  advantages  of  securing  the  attachment  of 
the  army  to  congress,  and  binding  them  to  the 
service,  by  substantial  ties  are  immense. 

We  should  then,  have  discipline ;  an  army,  in 
reality,  as  well  as  in  name.  Congress  would  then 
have  a  solid  basis  of  authority  and  consequence; 
for  with  me  it  is  ?n  nvl'^mj  that  in  nuz.  constitution 
^n  srrpy  is  essential  to  the  American  uaion. 

The  providing  of  supplies  is  the  pivot  of  every 
thing  else ;  (though  a  well  constituted  army  would 
not  in  a  small  degree  conduce  to  this,  by  giving 
consistency  and  weight  to  government,)  there  are 
four  ways,  all  of  which  must  be  united,  —  a  foreign 
loan,  —  heavy  pecuniary  taxes,  —  a  tax  in  kind,  — 
a  bank  founded  on  public  and  private  credit. 

As  to  a  foreign  loan,  Congress,  I  dare  say,  are  doing 
everything  in  their  power  to  obtain  it.  The  most 
effectual  way  will  be,  to  tell  France  that  without  it 
we  must  make  terms  with  Great  Britain.  This 
must  be  done  with  plainness  and  firmness,  but  with 
respect  and  without  petulance;  not  as  a  menace, 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  99 

but  as  a  candid  declaration  of  our  circumstances. 
We  need  not  fear  to  be  deserted  by  France;  her 
interest  and  honour  are  too  deeply  involved  in  our 
fate ;  and  she  can  make  no  possible  compromise. 
She  can  assist  us,  if  she  is  convinced  it  is  absolutely 
necessary,  either  by  lending  us,  herself,  or  by  be 
coming  our  surety,  or  by  influencing  Spain.  It 
has  been  to  me  astonishing,  how  any  man  could 
have  doubted,  at  any  period  of  our  affairs,  of  the 
necessity  of  a  foreign  loan.  It  was  self-evident 
that  we  had  not  a  fund  of  wealth  in  this  country,, 
capable  of  affording  revenues  equal  to  the  expenses. 
We  must,  then,  create  artificial  revenues,  or  bor 
row  ;  the  first  was  done,  but  it  ought  to  have 
been  foreseen  that  the  expedient  could  not  last, 
and  we  should  have  provided  in  time  for  its  failure. 
Here  was  an  error  of  congress.  I  have  good 
reason  to  believe  that  measures  were  not  taken  in 
earnest  early  enough  to  procure  a  loan  abroad :  I 
give  you  my  honour,  that  from  our  first  outset,  I 
thought  as  I  do  now ;  and  wished  for  a  foreign  loan, 
not  only  because  I  foresaw  that  it  would  be  essen 
tial,  but  because  I  considered  it  a  tie  upon  the 
nation  from  which  it  was  derived,  and  as  a  mean  to 
prop  our  cause  in  Europe. 


ioo  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

Concerning  the  necessity  of  heavy  pecuniary 
taxes,  I  need  say  nothing,  as  it  is  a  point  in  which 
everybody  is  agreed ;  nor  is  there  any  danger  that 
the  product  of  any  taxes  raised  in  this  way  will 
overburthen  the  people,  or  exceed  the  wants  of 
the  public.  Indeed,  if  all  the  paper  in  circulation 
were  drawn  annually  into  the  treasury,  it  would 
neither  do  one  nor  the  other. 

As  to  a  tax  in  kind,  the  necessity  of  it  results 
from  this  principle,  —  that  the  money  in  circula 
tion  is  not  a  sufficient  representative  of  that  part 
of  the  products  of  the  country,  which  it  is  bound 
to  contribute  to  the  support  of  the  public.  The 
public,  therefore,  to  obtain  its  due,  or  to  satisfy  its 
just  demands  and  its  wants,  must  call  for  a  part  of 
these  products  themselves.  This  is  done  in  all 
those  countries  which  are  not  commercial ;  in 
Russia,  Prussia,  Denmark,  Sweden,  &c.,  and  is 
peculiarly  necessary  in  our  case. 

Congress,  in  calling  for  specific  supplies,  seem  to 
have  had  this  in  view ;  but  their  intention  has  not 
been  answered.  The  states,  in  general,  have  under 
taken  to  furnish  the  supplies  by  purchase, — a 
mode,  as  I  have  observed,  attended  with  every 
inconvenience,  and  subverting  the  principle  on 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 


101 


which  the  supplies  were  demanded,  —  the  insuf 
ficiency  of  our  circulating  medium,  as  a  representa 
tive  for  the  labour  and  commodities  of  the  country. 
It  is,  therefore,  necessary,  that  congress  should  be 
more  explicit  ;  should  form  the  outlines  of  a  plan 
for  a  tax  in  kind,  and  recommend  it  to  the  states, 
as  a  measure  of  absolute  necessity. 

The  general  idea  I  have  of  a  plan  is,  that  a 
-*a&per  tahfc  man  should  hn,  appointed^  by  the  state 
m-each-cauntv  to  collect  the  taxes,  and  form  maga 
zines;  that  congress  should  have  in  each  slate  an 
officer  to  superintend  the  whole,  and  that  the  state 
collectors  should  be  subordinate  and  responsible 
to  them.  This  continental  superintendent  might 
be  subject  to  the  general  direction  of  the  quarter 
master-general,  or  not,  as  might  be  deemed  best  ; 
but  if  not  subject  to  him,  he  should  be  obliged  to 
make  monthly  returns  to  the  President  at  War, 
who  should  instruct  him  what  proportion  to 
deliver  to  the  quarter-master-general.  It  may  be 
necessary  that  the  superintendents  should  some 
times  have  power  to  dispose  of  the  articles  in 
their  possession,  on  public  account;  for  it  would 
happen,  that  the  contributions,  in  places  remote 
from  the  army,  could  not  be  transported  to  the 


102  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

theatre  of  operations  without  too  great  expense; 
in  which  case,  it  would  be  eligible  to  dispose  of 
them,  and  purchase  with  the  money  so  raised 
in  the  counties  near  the  immediate  seat  of 
war. 

I  know  the  objections  which  may  be  raised  to 
this  plan  —  its  tendency  to  discourage  industry  and 
the  like ;  but  necessity  calls  for  it ;  we  cannot  pro 
ceed  without,  and  less  evils  must  give  place  to 
greater.  It  is,  besides,  practiced  with  success  in 
other  countries,  and  why  not  in  this?  It  may  be 
said,  the  examples  cited  are  from  nations  under 
despotic  governments,  and  that  the  same  would 
not  be  practicable  with  us ;  but  I  contend,  whgre 
4h&.  pnhlir  gopc]  is  evidently  the  object,  more^rnay 
be  efYectedhi  governments  like  ours  than  in  any 
other.  It  has  been  a  constant  remark,  that  free 
countries  have  ever  paid  the  heaviest  taxes;  the 
obedience  of  a  free  people  to  general  laws,  however 
hard  they  bear,  is  ever  more  perfect  than  that  of 
slaves  to  the  arbitrary  will  of  a  prince.  To  this, 
it  may  be  added,  that  Sweden  was  always  a  free 
government,  and  is  so  now,  in  a  great  degree, 
notwithstanding  the  late  revolution. 

How  far  it  may  be  practicable  to  erect  a  bank 


A   FEW  OF   HAMILTON'S  LETTERS  103 

on  the  faint  credit  of  the  republic,  and  of  indi 
viduals,  can  only  be  certainly  determined  by  the 
experiment ;  but  it  is  of  so  much  importance  that 
the  experiment  ought  to  be  fully  tried.  When  I 
saw  the  subscriptions  going  on  to  the  bank  estab 
lished  for  supplying  the  army,  I  was  in  hopes  it 
was  only  the  embryo  of  a  more  permanent  and 
extensive  establishment.  But  I  have  reason  to 
believe  I  shall  be  disappointed.  It  does  not  seem 
to  be  at  all  conducted  on  the  true  principles  of  a 
bank.  The  directors  of  it  are  purchasing  with 
their  stock,  instead  of  bank  notes  as  I  expected; 
in  consequence  of  which,  it  must  turn  out  to  be  a 
mere  subscription  of  a  particular  sum  of  money, 
for  a  particular  purpose. 

Paper  credit,  never  was  long  supported  in  any 
country,  on  a  national  scale,  where  it  was  not 
founded  on  the  joint  basis  of  public  and  private 
credit.  An  attempt  to  establish  it  on  public  credit 
^aloiie^jn^rancer^  auspices  of  Mr.  Law, 

nearly  ruined  the  kingdom.  We  have  seen  the 
effects  of  it  in  America;  and  every  successive  ex 
periment  proves  the  futility  of  the  attempt.  Our 
new  money  is  depreciating  almost  as  fast  as  the 
old,  though  it  has,  in  some  states,  as  real  funds  as 


104 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 


paper  money  ever  had.  The  reason  is,  that  the 
moneyed  men  have  not  an  immediate  interest  to 
uphold  its  credit.  They  may  even,  in  many  ways, 
find  it  their  interest  to  undermine  it.  The  only 
certain  manner  to  obtain  a  ermanent  pape^rcredit 

IS      O    ^nnrQgPi^jT^ripy--1"^^      jmnWHatply 

it,   by  making  them  contribute  the  whole 

of~the  stbck,  and  giving  them  the  whole  or  part  of 

^rhn  prnfijg 

The  invention  of  banks,  on  the  modern  princi 
ple,  originated  in  Venice.  There.  jthg^pubHc.  and 
a  company  of  moneyed  mpn,  a,re.  rnnfrmlly  con 
cerned.  The  Bank  of  England  unites  public 
authority  and  faTEn,  with  private  credit ;  and  hence 

— we  &cc  what  a  vast  fablic  Of  papeT  credit  is  raised 
on  a  visionary  basis.  Had  it  not  been  for  this, 
England  would  never  have  found  sufficient  funds 
to  carry  on  her  wars;  but  with  the  help  of  this, 
she  has  done,  and  is  doing,  wonders.  The  Bank 

of  Amsterdam  is  on  a  similar  foundation. 

s** 

And  why  cannot  we  have  an  American  bank  ? 
Are  our  moneyed  men  less  enlightened  to  their 
own  interest,  or  less  enterprising  in  thepursuit? 
I  believe  the  tault  is  in  government^  which  does 
not  exert  itself  to  engage  them  in  such  a  scheme. 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  105 

It  is  true,  the  individuals  in  America  are  not 
very  rich ;  but  this  would  not  prevent  their  insti 
tuting  a  bank ;  it  would  only  prevent  its  being 
done  with  such  ample  funds  as  in  other  countries. 
Have  they  not  sufficient  confidence  in  the  govern 
ment,  and  in  the  issue  of  the  cause?  Let  the 
government  endeavour  to  inspire  that  confidence, 
by  adopting  the  measures  I  have  recommended, 
or  others  equivalent  to  them.  Let  it  exert  itself 
to  procure  a  solid  confederation  —  to  establish  a 
good  plan  of  executive  administration,  —  to  form 
a  permanent  military  force,  —  to  obtain,  at  all 
events,  a  foreign  loan.  If  these  things  were  in  a 
train  of  vigorous  execution,  it  would  give  a  new 
spring  to  our  affairs ;  government  would  recover 
its  respectability,  and  individuals  would  renounce 
their  diffidence. 

The  object  I  should  propose  to  myself,  in  the 
first  instance,  from  a  bank,  would  be  an  auxiliary 
mode  of  supplies ;  for  which  purpose  contracts 
should  be  made  between  government  and  the 
bank,  on  terms  liberal  and  advantageous  to  the 
latter.  Everything  should  be  done,  in  the  first 
instance,  to  encourage  the  bank ;  after  it  gets 
well  established  it  will  take  care  of  itself,  and 


io6  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

government  may  make  the  best  terms  it  can,  for 
itself. 

The  first  step  to  establishing  the  bank,  will  be 
to  engage  a  number  of  moneyed  men  of  influence 
to  relish  the  project,  and  make  it  a  business.  The 
subscribers  to  that  lately  established,  are  the  fittest 
persons  that  can  be  found ;  and  their  plan  may  be 
interwoven. 

The  outlines  of  my  plan  would  be  to  open  sub 
scriptions,  in  all  the  states,  for  the  stock,  which  we 
will  suppose  to  be  one  million  of  pounds.  Real 
property,  of  every  kind,  as  well  as  specie,  should 
be  deemed  good  stock;  but  at  least  a  fourth  part 
of  the  subscription  should  be  in  specie  or  plate. 
There  should  be  one  great  company,  in  three  divi 
sions  ;  in  Virginia,  Philadelphia,  and  Boston ;  or 
two  at  Philadelphia  and  Boston.  The  bank  should 
have  a  right  to  issue  bank  notes,  bearing  two  per 
cent,  interest  for  the  whole  of  their  stock ;  but  not 
to  exceed  it.  These  notes  may  be  payable  every 
three  months,  or  oftener ;  and  the  faith  of  govern 
ment  must  be  pledged  for  the  support  of  the  bank. 
It  must,  therefore,  have  a  right,  from  time  to  time, 
to  inspect  its  operations ;  and  must  appoint  inspec 
tors  for  the  purpose. 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  107 

The  advantages  of  the  bank  may  consist  in  this : 
in  the  profits  of  the  contracts  made  with  govern 
ment,  which  should  bear  interest,  to  be  annually 
paid  in  specie ;  in  the  loan  of  money  at  interest, 
say  six  per  cent,  in  purchasing  lives  by  annuities, 
as  practiced  in  England,  &c.  The  benefit  result 
ing  to  the  company  is  evident,  from  the  considera 
tion,  that  they  may  employ  in  circulation  a  great 
deal  more  money  than  they  have  specie  in  stock, 
on  the  credit  of  the  real  property  which  they  will 
have  in  other  use.  This  money  will  be  employed, 
either  in  fulfilling  their  contracts  with  the  public, 
by  which,  also,  they  will  gain  a  profit,  or  in  loans, 
at  an  advantageous  interest,  or  in  annuities. 

The  bank  may  be  allowed  to  purchase  plate  and 
bullion,  and  coin  money,  allowing  government  a 
part  of  the  profit. 

I  make  the  bank  notes  bear  interest,  to  obtain 
a  readier  currency,  and  to  induce  the  holders  to 
prefer  them  to  specie,  to  prevent  too  great  a  run 
upon  the  bank,  at  any  time,  beyond  its  ability  to 
pay. 

If  government  can  obtain  a  foreign  loan,  it 
should  lend  to  the  bank,  on  easy  terms,  to  extend 
its  influence,  and  facilitate  a  compliance  with  its 


io8  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

engagements.  If  government  could  engage  the 
states  to  raise  a  sum  of  money  in  specie,  to  be  de 
posited  in  bank  in  the  same  manner,  it  would  be  of 
the  greatest  consequence.  If  government  could  pre 
vail  on  the  enthusiasm  of  the  people,  to  make  a  con 
tribution  in  plate,  for  the  same  purpose,  if  would  be 
a  master  stroke.  Things  of  this  kind  sometimes 
succeed  in  popular  contests ;  and  if  undertaken 
with  address,  I  should  not  despair  of  its  success; 
but  I  should  not  be  sanguine. 

The  bank  may  be  instituted  for  a  term  of  years, 
by  way  of  trial ;  and  the  particular  privilege  of  coin 
ing  money  may  be  for  a  term  still  shorter. 

A  temporary  transfer  of  it  to  a  particular  com 
pany  can  have  no  inconvenience,  as  the  govern 
ment  are  in  no  condition  to  improve  this  resource ; 
nor  could  it,  in  our  circumstances,  be  an  object 
to  it,  though  with  the  industry  of  a  knot  of  indi 
viduals,  it  might  be  a  valuable  one  to  them. 

A  bank  of  this  kind,  even  in  its  commencement, 
would  answer  the  most  valuable  purposes  to  gov 
ernment,  and  to  the  proprietors;  in  its  progress 
the  advantages  will  exceed  calculation.  It  will 
promote  commerce,  by  furnishing  a  more  extensive 
medium,  which  we  greatly  want,  in  our  circum- 


A   FEW   OF    HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  109 

stances.  I  mean  a  more  extensive,  valuable  me 
dium.  We  have  an  enormous  nominal  one  at  this 
time ;  but  it  is  only  a  name. 

In  the  present  unsettled  state  of  things,  in  this 
country,  we  can  hardly  draw  inferences,  from  what 
has  happened  in  others ;  otherwise  I  should  be 
certain  of  the  success  of  this  scheme ;  but  I  think 
it  has  enough  in  its  favour  to  be  worthy  of  trial. 

I  have  only  skimmed  the  surface  of  the  different 
subjects  I  have  introduced.  Should  the  plans 
recommended  come  into  contemplation  in  earnest, 
and  you  desire  my  farther  thoughts,  I  will  endeav 
our  to  give  them  more  form  and  particularity. 

I  am  persuaded  a  solid  confederation,  a  perma 
nent  army,  a  reasonable  prospect  of  subsisting  it, 
would  give  us  treble  consideration  in  Europe,  and 
produce  a  peace  this  winter. 

If  a  convention  is  called,  the  minds  of  all  the 
states  and  the  people  ought  to  be  prepared  to 
receive  its  determinations  by  sensible  and  popular 
writings,  which  should  conform  to  the  views  of 
congress.  There  are  epochs  in  human  affairs, 
when  novelty  even  is  useful.  If  a  general  opinion 
prevails  that  the  old  way  is  bad,  whether  true  or 
false,  and  this  obstructs  or  relaxes  the  operations 


no  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

of  the  public  service,  a  change  is  necessary  if  it 
be  but  for  the  sake  of  change.  This  is  exactly 
the  case  now.  'Tis  an  universal  sentiment  that 
our  present  system  is  a  bad  one,  and  that  things 
do  not  go  right  on  this  account  The  measure 
of  a  convention  would  revive  the  hopes  of 
the  people,  and  give  a  new  direction  to  their 
passions,  which  may  be  improved  in  carrying 
points  of  substantial  utility.  The  eastern  states 
have  already  pointed  out  this  mode  to  congress: 
they  ought  to  take  the  hint  and  anticipate  the 
others. 

And  in  future,  my  dear  sir,  two  things  let  me 
'recommend,  as  fundamental  rules  for  the  conduct 
of  congress:  to  attach  the  army  to  them  by  every 
motive,  —  to  maintain  an  authority  (not  domineer 
ing)  in  all  their  measures  with  the  states.  The 
manner  in  which  a  thing  is  done,  has  more  in 
fluence  than  is  commonly  imagined.  Men  are 
governed  by  opinion :  this  npvpirm  Js  as  much 
influenced  by  app^fjpmrpg  x*  by  realities.  If  a 
government  appears  to  be  confident  of  its  own 
Bowers,  it  is  the  surest  way  to  inspire  "the  same 
conrldence  in  others.  If  it  is  diffident,  it  may  be 
certain  there^lll  be  a— $till  greater  diffidence  in 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  in 

others,    c 


others,  and  that  its  authority  will  not  only  be 
distrusted,  controverted,  but  contemned. 

I  wish,  too,  congress  would  always  consider,  that 
\  a  kindness  consists  as  much  in  the  manner  as 
f  in  the  thing.  The  best  things,  done  hesitatingly, 
and  with  an  ill  grace,  lose  their  effect,  and  pro 
duce  disgust  rather  than  satisfaction  or  gratitude. 
In  what  congress  have  at  any  time  done  for  the 
army,  they  have  commonly  been  too  late.  They 
have  seemed  to  yield  to  importunity,  rather  than 
to  sentiments  of  justice,  or  to  a  regard  to  the 
accommodation  of  their  troops.  An  attention  to 
this  idea  is  of  more  importance  than  it  may  be 
thought.  I,  who  have  seen  all  the  workings  and 
progress  of  the  present  discontents,  am  convinced 
that  a  want  of  this  has  not  been  among  the  most 
inconsiderable  causes. 

You  will  perceive,  my  dear  sir,  this  letter  is 
hastily  written,  and  with  a  confidential  freedom, 
not  as  to  a  member  of  congress,  whose  feelings 
may  be  sore  at  the  prevailing  clamour;  but  as 
to  a  friend  who  is  in  a  situation  to  remedy  public 
disorders,  —  who  wishes  for  nothing  so  much  as 
truth,  and  who  is  desirous  for  information,  even 
from  those  less  capable  of  judging  than  himself. 


ii2  A   FEW  OF   HAMILTON'S  LETTERS 

I  have  not  even  time  to  correct  and  copy,  and 
only  enough  to  add,  that  I  am,  very  truly  and 
affectionately,  dear  sir, 

Your  most  obedient  servant, 

A.  HAMILTON. 


To  GENERAL  SCHUYLER 

HEAD  QUARTERS,  NEW  WINDSOR, 
February  i8th,  1781. 

My  dear  Sir,  —  Since  I  had  the  pleasure  of 
writing  you  last,  an  unexpected  change  has  taken 
place  in  my  situation.  I  am  no  longer  a  member 
of  the  General's  family.  This  information  will 
surprise  you,  and  the  manner  of  the  change  will 
surprise  you  more.  Two  days  ago,  the  General 
and  I  passed  each  other  on  the  stairs ;  —  he  told 
me  he  wanted  to  speak  to  me,  —  I  answered  that 
I  would  wait  upon  him  immediately.  I  went 
below  and  delivered  Mr.  Tilghman  a  letter  to 
be  sent  to  the  commissary,  containing  an  order 
of  a  pressing  and  interesting  nature. 

Returning  to  the  General,  I  was  stopped  on 
the  way  by  the  Marquis  de  La  Fayette  and  we 
conversed  together  about  a  minute  on  a  matter 


A  FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  113 

of  business.  He  can  testify  how  impatient  I  was 
to  get  back,  and  that  I  left  him  in  a  manner  which, 
but  for  our  intimacy,  would  have  been  more  than 
abrupt  Instead  of  finding  the  General,  as  is 
usual,  in  his  room,  I  met  him  at  the  head  of 
the  stairs,  where  accosting  me  in  an  angry  tone, 
"  Colonel  Hamilton,  (said  he,)  you  have  kept  me 
waiting  at  the  head  of  the  stairs  these  ten  min 
utes  ;  —  I  must  tell  you,  sir,  you  treat  me  with 
disrespect."  I  replied  without  petulancy,  but  with 
decision,  "  I  am  not  conscious  of  it,  sir,  but  since 
you  have  thought  it  necessary  to  tell  me  so,  we 
part."  "  Very  well,  sir,  (said  he,)  if  it  be  your 
choice,"  or  something  to  this  effect,  and  we  sepa 
rated.  I  sincerely  believe  my  absence,  which 
gave  so  much  umbrage,  did  not  last  two  min 
utes. 

In  less  than  an  hour  after,  Tilghman  came  to  me 
in  the  General's  name,  assuring  me  of  his  great 
confidence  in  my  abilities,  integrity,  usefulness,  &c., 
and  of  his  desire,  in  a  candid  conversation,  to  heal 
a  difference  which  could  not  have  happened  but  in 
a  moment  of  passion.  I  requested  Mr.  Tilghman 
to  tell  him, —  ist.  That  I  had  taken  my  resolution 
in  a  manner  not  to  be  revoked.  2d.  That  as  a 


ii4  A   FEW  OF   HAMILTON'S  LETTERS 

conversation  could  serve  no  other  purpose  than  to 
produce  explanations,  mutually  disagreeable,  though 
I  certainly  would  not  refuse  an  interview,  if  he 
desired  it,  yet  I  would  be  happy,  if  he  would  permit 
me  to  decline  it.  3d.  That  though  determined  to 
leave  the  family,  the  same  principles  which  had 
kept  me  so  long  in  it,  would  continue  to  direct  my 
conduct  towards  him  when  out  of  it.  4th.  That, 
however,  I  did  not  wish  to  distress  him,  or  the  pub 
lic  business,  by  quitting  him  before  he  could  derive 
other  assistance  by  the  return  of  some  of  the  gentle 
men  who  were  absent.  5th.  And  that  in  the  mean 
time,  it  depended  on  him,  to  let  our  behaviour  to 
each  other  be  the  same  as  if  nothing  had  happened. 
He  consented  to  decline  the  conversation,  and 
thanked  me  for  my  offer  of  continuing  my  aid  in 
the  manner  I  had  mentioned. 

I  have  given  you  so  particular  a  detail  of  our  dif 
ference,  from  the  desire  I  have  to  justify  myself  in 
your  opinion.  Perhaps  you  may  think  I  was  pre 
cipitate  in  rejecting  the  overture  made  by  the  Gen 
eral  to  an  accommodation.  I  assure  you,  my  dear 
sir,  it  was  not  *he  effect  of  resentment ;  it  was  the 
deliberate  result  of  maxims  I  had  long  formed  for 
the  government  of  my  own  conduct. 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  115 

I  always  disliked  the  office  of  an  aid-de-camp, 
as  having  in  it  a  kind  of  personal  dependence.  I 
refused  to  serve  in  this  capacity  with  two  Major 
Generals,  at  an  early  period  of  the  war.  Infected, 
however,  with  the  enthusiasm  of  the  times,  an  idea 
of  the  General's  character  overcame  my  scruples, 
and  induced  me  to  accept  his  invitation  to  enter 
into  his  family.  It  has  been  often  with  great  diffi 
culty  that  I  have  prevailed  upon  myself  not  to 
renounce  it;  but  while,  from  motives  of  public 
utility,  I  was  doing  violence  to  my  feelings,  I  was 
always  determined,  if  there  should  ever  happen  a 
breach  between  us,  never  to  consent  to  an  accom 
modation.  I  was  persuaded,  that  when  once  that 
nice  barrier,  which  marked  the  boundaries  of  what 
we  owed  to  each  other,  should  be  thrown  down, 
it  might  be  propped  again,  but  could  never  be 
restored. 

The  General  is  a  very  honest  man; — his  com 
petitors  have  slender  abilities,  and  less  integrity. 
His  popularity  has  often  been  essential  to  the  safety 
of  America,  and  is  still  of  great  importance  to  it. 
These  considerations  have  influenced  my  past  con 
duct  respecting  him,  and  will  influence  my  future ; 
—  I  think  it  is  necessary  he  should  be  supported. 


n6  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

His  estimation  in  your  mind,  whatever  may  be 
its  amount,  I  am  persuaded  has  been  formed  on 
principles,  which  a  circumstance  like  this  cannot 
materially  affect ;  but  if  I  thought  it  could  diminish 
your  friendship  for  him,  I  should  almost  forego  the 
motives  that  urge  me  to  justify  myself  to  you.  I 
wish  what  I  have  said  to  make  no  other  impression, 
than  to  satisfy  you  I  have  not  been  in  the  wrong. 
It  is  also  said  in  confidence,  as  a  public  knowledge 
of  the  breach  would,  in  many  ways,  have  an  ill 
effect.  It  will,  probably,  be  the  policy  of  both  sides 
to  conceal  it,  and  cover  the  separation  with  some 
plausible  pretext.  I  am  importuned  by  such  of 
my  friends  as  are  privy  to  the  affair,  to  listen 
to  a  reconciliation ;  but  my  resolution  is  unalter 
able. 

As  I  cannot  think  of  quitting  the  army  during 
the  war,  I  have  a  project  of  re-entering  into  the  artil 
lery;  by  taking  Lieutenant  Colonel  Forrest's  place, 
who  is  desirous  of  retiring  on  half  pay.  I  have  not, 
however,  made  up  my  mind  on  this  head,  as  I 
should  be  obliged  to  come  in  the  youngest  lieuten 
ant  colonel  instead  of  the  eldest,  which  I  ought  to 
have  been  by  natural  succession,  had  I  remained  in 
the  corps ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  resume  studies 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  117 

relative  to  the  profession,  which  to  avoid  inferiority, 
must  be  laborious. 

If  a  handsome  command  in  the  campaign  in  the 
light  infantry  should  offer  itself,  I  shall  balance 
between  this  and  the  artillery.  My  situation  in 
the  latter  would  be  more  solid  and  permanent; 
but  as  I  hope  the  war  will  not  last  long  enough 
to  make  it  progressive,  this  consideration  has  the 
less  force.  A  command  for  the  campaign  would 
leave  me  the  winter  to  prosecute  studies  relative 
to  my  future  career  in  life.  I  have  written  to  you 
on  this  subject  with  all  the  freedom  and  confidence 
to  which  you  have  a  right,  and  with  an  assurance 
of  the  interest  you  take  in  all  that  concerns  me. 
Very  sincerely  and  affectionately, 
I  am,  dear  sir, 

Your  most  obedient  servant, 

A.  HAMILTON. 

To   MRS.   HAMILTON 

August,  1781. 

In  my  last  letter  I  informed  you  that  there  was 
a  greater  prospect  of  activity  now,  than  there  had 
been  heretofore.  I  did  this  to  prepare  your  mind 
for  an  event,  which,  I  am  sure,  will  give  you  pain. 


n8  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

I  begged  your  father  at  the  same  time  to  intimate 
to  you  by  degrees  the  probability  of  its  taking 
place.  I  used  this  method  to  prevent  a  surprise 
which  might  be  too  severe  to  you.  A  part  of 
the  army,  my  dear  girl,  is  going  to  Virginia,  and 
I  must  of  necessity  be  separated  at  a  much  greater 
distance  from  my  beloved  wife.  I  cannot  announce 
the  fatal  necessity  without  feeling  everything  that 
a  fond  husband  can  feel.  I  am  unhappy ;  —  I  am 
unhappy  beyond  expression.  I  am  unhappy  be 
cause  I  am  to  be  so  remote  from  you ;  because  I 
am  to  hear  from  you  less  frequently  than  I  am 
accustomed  to  do.  I  am  miserable  because  I  know 
you  will  be  so ;  I  am  wretched  at  the  idea  of 
flying  so  far  from  you,  without  a  single  hour's 
interview,  to  tell  you  all  my  pains  and  all  my 
love.  But  I  cannot  ask  permission  to  visit  you. 
It  might  be  thought  improper  to  leave  my  corps 
at  such  a  time  and  upon  such  an  occasion.  I 
must  go  without  seeing  you,  —  I  must  go  without 
embracing  you  :  —  alas !  I  must  go.  But  let  no 
idea,  other  than  of  the  distance  we  shall  be  asunder, 
disquiet  you.  Though  I  said  the  prospects  of 
activity  will  be  greater,  I  said  it  to  give  your  ex 
pectations  a  different  turn,  and  prepare  you  for 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  119 

something  disagreeable.  It  is  ten  to  one  that 
our  views  will  be  disappointed,  by  Cornwallis 
retiring  to  South  Carolina  by  land.  At  all  events, 
our  operations  will  be  over  by  the  latter  end  of 
October,  and  I  will  fly  to  my  home.  Don't  men 
tion  I  am  going  to  Virginia. 

And  a  few  days  later,  from  the  head  of  the  Elk, 
he  writes :  — 

Yesterday,  my  lovely  wife,  I  wrote  to  you  enclos 
ing  you  a  letter  in  one  to  your  father,  to  the  care  of 
Mr.  Morris.  To-morrow  the  post  sets  out,  and 
to-morrow  we  embark  for  York  Town.  I  cannot 
refuse  myself  the  pleasure  of  writing  you  a  few 
lines.  Constantly  uppermost  in  my  thoughts  and 
affections,  I  am  happy  only  when  my  moments  are 
devoted  to  some  office  that  respects  you.  I  would 
give  the  world  to  be  able  to  tell  you  all  I  feel,  and 
all  I  wish,  but  consult  your  own  heart  and  then  you 
will  know  mine.  What  a  world  will  soon  be 
between  us !  To  support  the  idea  all  my  forti 
tude  is  insufficient.  What  must  be  the  case  with 
you  who  have  the  most  female  of  female  hearts? 
I  sink  at  the  perspective  of  your  distress,  and  I 
look  to  heaven  to  be  your  guardian  and  supporter. 


120  A  FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

Circumstances  which  have  just  come  to  my  know 
ledge,  assure  me  that  our  operations  will  be  expe 
ditious,  as  well  as  our  success  certain.  Early  in 
November,  as  I  promised  you,  we  shall  certainly 
meet.  Cheer  yourself  with  this  idea,  and  with 
the  assurance  of  never  more  being  separated. 
Every  day  confirms  me  in  the  intention  of  re 
nouncing  public  life,  and  devoting  myself  wholly 
to  you.  Let  others  waste  their  time  and  their 
tranquillity  in  a  vain  pursuit  of  power  and  glory ;  — 
be  it  my  object  to  be  happy  in  a  quiet  retreat,  with 
my  better  angel. 

And  from  Annapolis :  — 

How  checquered  is  human  life  ?  —  how  precarious 
is  happiness  ?  —  how  easily  do  we  often  part  with  it 
for  a  shadow?  These  are  the  reflections  that  fre 
quently  intrude  themselves  upon  me,  with  a  pain 
ful  application.  I  am  going  to  do  my  duty.  Our 
operations  will  be  so  conducted  as  to  economize  the 
lives  of  men.  Exert  your  fortitude  and  rely  upon 
heaven. 


ALEXANDER   HAMILTON. 


A   FEW  OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  121 

FROM  COLONEL  HARRISON 

NEW  WINDSOR,  1781. 

I  came  here,  my  dear  Hamilton,  on  Friday  night 
to  bid  adieu  to  the  General,  to  you,  and  to  my  other 
friends  as  a  military  man,  and  regretted  much  that 
I  had  not  the  happiness  of  seeing  you.  To-morrow 
I  am  obliged  to  depart,  and  it  is  possible  our  sepa 
ration  may  be  for  ever.  But  be  this  as  it  may,  it 
can  only  be  with  respect  to  our  persons,  for  as  to 
affection,  mine  for  you  will  continue  to  my  latest 
breath.  This  event  will  probably  surprise  you,  but 
from  your  knowledge  of  me,  I  rely  you  will  con 
clude  at  the  instant,  that  no  light  considerations 
would  have  taken  me  from  the  army ;  and,  I  think, 
I  might  safely  have  rested  the  matter  here.  How 
ever,  as  the  friendship  between  us  gives  you  a  claim 
to  something  more,  and  as  I  am  not  indifferent 
about  character,  and  shall  be  anxious  to  have  the 
esteem  of  all  who  are  good  and  virtuously  great,  I 
shall  detail  to  you,  my  friend,  the  more  substantial 
reasons  which  have  led  to  my  present  conduct.  I 
go  from  the  army,  then,  because  I  have  found,  on 
examination,  that  my  little  fortune,  earned  by  an 


122  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

honest  and  hard  industry,  was  becoming  embar 
rassed  ;  to  attend  to  the  education  of  my  children ; 
.  .  .  and  because  the  State  of  Maryland,  in  a  flat 
tering  manner,  have  been  pleased  to  appoint  me  to 
a  place,  very  respectable  in  its  nature,  correspond 
ing  to  my  former,  and  interesting  to  my  whole  fu 
ture  life  and  support :  —  they  have  appointed  me  to 
the  chair  of  the  Supreme  Court.  These,  my  friend, 
are  the  motives  to  my  present  resolution.  My  own 
feelings  are  satisfied  on  the  occasion,  though  I  can 
not  but  regret  parting  with  the  most  valuable  ac 
quaintances  I  have,  and  I  hope  they  will  justify  me 
most  fully  to  you,  my  Hamilton,  especially  when 
you  consider  the  time  I  have  been  in  the  service, 
and  the  compensation  I  have  received.  Adieu. 
Yours,  in  haste,  most  affectionately, 

ROBT.  H.  HARRISON. 


Ill 

LAW,   POLITICS,   AND   DOMESTICITY 


To   MEADE 

PHILADELPHIA,  March,  1782. 

A  half  hour  since  brought  me  the  pleasure  of 
your  letter  of  December  last.  It  went  to  Albany 
and  came  from  thence  to  this  place.  I  heartily 
felicitate  you  on  the  birth  of  your  daughter.  I  can 
well  conceive  your  happiness  upon  that  occasion,  by 
that  which  I  felt  on  a  similar  one. 

Indeed,  the  sensations  of  a  tender  father  of  the 
child  of  a  beloved  mother,  can  only  be  conceived  by 
those  who  have  experienced  them. 

Your  heart,  my  Meade,  is  peculiarly  formed  for 
enjoyments  of  this  kind.  You  have  every  right  to 
be  a  happy  husband,  a  happy  father.  You  have 
every  prospect  of  being  so.  I  hope  your  felicity 
may  never  be  interrupted. 

You  cannot  imagine  how  entirely  domestic  I  am 
growing.  I  lose  all  tastes  for  the  pursuits  of  ambi 
tion.  I  sigh  for  nothing  but  for  the  company  of 
my  wife  and  my  baby.  The  ties  of  duty  alone,  or 
imagined  duty,  keep  me  from  renouncing  public  life 
altogether.  It  is,  however,  probable  I  may  not  be 
any  longer  actively  engaged  in  it. 

125 


126  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

I  have  explained  to  you  the  difficulties  I  met 
with  in  obtaining  a  command  last  campaign.  I 
thought  it  incompatible  with  the  delicacy  due  to 
myself  to  make  any  application  this  campaign.  I 
have  expressed  this  sentiment  in  a  letter  to  the 
General,  and,  retaining  my  rank  only,  have  relin 
quished  the  emoluments  of  my  commission,  declar 
ing  myself,  notwithstanding,  ready  at  all  times  to 
obey  the  calls  of  the  public.  I  do  not  expect  to 
hear  any  of  these,  unless  the  state  of  our  affairs 
should  change  for  the  worse ;  and  lest,  by  any  un 
foreseen  accident  that  should  happen,  I  choose  to 
keep  myself  in  a  situation  again  to  contribute  my 
aid.  This  prevents  a  total  resignation. 

You  were  right  in  supposing  I  neglected  to 
prepare  what  I  promised  you  at  Philadelphia. 
The  truth  is,  I  was  in  such  a  hurry  to  get  home, 
that  I  could  think  of  nothing  else.  As  I  set  out 
to-morrow  morning  for  Albany,  I  cannot,  from  this 
place,  send  you  the  matter  you  wish. 

Imagine,  my  dear  Meade,  what  pleasure  it  must 
give  Eliza  and  myself  to  know  that  Mrs.  Meade 
interests  herself  in  us.  Without  a  personal 
acquaintance,  we  have  been  long  attached  to  her. 
My  visit  at  Mr.  Fitzhugh's  confirmed  my  partiality. 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  127 

Betsey  is  so  fond  of  your  family,  that  she  proposes 
to  form  a  match  between  her  boy  and  your  girl, 
provided  you  will  engage  to  make  the  latter  as 
amiable  as  her  mother. 

Truly,  my  dear  Meade,  I  often  regret  that 
fortune  has  cast  our  residence  at  such  a  distance 
from  each  other.  It  would  be  a  serious  addition 
to  my  happiness  if  we  lived  where  I  could  see 
you  every  day;  but  fate  has  determined  it  other 
wise.  I  am  a  little  hurried,  and  can  only  request, 
in  addition,  that  you  will  present  me  most  affec 
tionately  to  Mrs.  Meade,  and  believe  me  to  be, 
with  the  warmest  and  most  unalterable  friendship, 

Yours, 

A.    HAMILTON. 

To   LAURENS 

August  1 5th,  1782. 

I  received  with  great  pleasure,  my  dear  Laurens, 

the  letter  which  you  wrote  me  in last.      Your 

wishes  in  one  respect  are  gratified.  This  State 
has  pretty  unanimously  elected  me  to  Congress. 
My  time  of  service  commences  in  November.  It 
is  not  probable  it  will  result  in  what  you  mention. 
I  hope  it  is  too  late.  We  have  great  reason  to 


128 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 


flatter  ourselves.  Peace  on  our  own  terms  is 
upon  the  carpet.  The  making  it  is  in  good 
hands.  It  is  said  your  father  is  exchanged  for 
Cornwallis,  and  gone  to  Paris  to  meet  the  other 
commissioners,  and  that  Granville,  on  the  part  of 
England,  has  made  a  second  trip  there;  in  the 
last  instance  vested  with  plenipotentiary  powers. 

I  fear  there  may  be  obstacles,  but  I  hope  they 
may  be  surmounted. 

Peace  made,  my  dear  friend,  a  new  scene  opens. 
The  object  then  will  be  to  make  our  independence 
a  blessing.  To  do  this  we  must  secure  our  Union 
on  solid  foundations  —  a  herculean  task  —  and  to 
effect  which  mountains  nf  prpj11£11'n?r"^HrrKlb^  lev 
elled  !  It  requires  all  the  virtue  andLall  the  abili 
ties  of  thp^£ountry.  Quit  your  sword,  my  friend ; 
put  on  the  toga.  Come  to  Congress.  We  know 
each  other's  sentiments;  our  views  are  the  same. 
We  have  fought  side  by  side  to  make  America 
free ;  let  us  hand  in  hand  struggle  to  make  her 
happy.  Remember  me  to  General  Greene  with 
all  the  warmth  of  a  sincere  attachment. 

Yours  for  ever, 

A.  H.1 

1  This  was  Hamilton's  last  letter  to  Laurens,  who  doubtless  was 
killed  before  it  reached  him.  —  ED. 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 


To  MEADE 

ALBANY,  August  27th,  1782. 

I  thank  you,  my  dear  Meade,  for  your  letter  of 
the  first  of  this  month,  which  you  will  perceive 
has  travelled  much  faster  than  has  been  usual 
with  our  letters.  Our  correspondence  hitherto, 
has  been  unfortunate,  nor  in  fact  can  either  of 
us  compliment  himself  on  his  punctuality;  but 
you  were  right  in  concluding,  that  however  indo 
lence  or  accident  may  interrupt  our  intercourse, 
nothing  will  interrupt  our  friendship.  Mine  for 
you  is  built  on  the  solid  basis  of  a  full  convic 
tion  that  you  deserve  it,  and  that  it  is  reciprocal, 
and  it  is  the  more  firmly  fixed  because  you  have  few 
competitors.  Experience  is  a  continued  comment  /J^ 
on  the  worthless  ness  of  the  human  race,  and  the  * 

few   exceptions    we    fjnr|    ha.w    thp    grpfrtpr    right    to 

be  valued  in  proportion  a.s  thpy  are  rarg.  I  know 
few_men  estimable,  fewer  amiable,  and  when  _I 
meet  with  one  of  the  last  description  it  jg  nnf- lr> 
my  power  to  withhold  jny  afffTH>rm  . 

You  reproach  me  with  not  having  said  enough 
about  our  little  stranger.      When   I  wrote  last,  I 


1 30  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

was  not  sufficiently  acquainted  with  him  to  give 
you  his  character.  I  may  now  assure  you  that 
your  daughter,  when  she  sees  him,  will  not  con 
sult  you  about  the  choice,  or  will  only  do  so  in 
respect  to  the  rules  of  decorum.  He  is  truly  a 
very  fine  young  gentleman,  the  most  agreeable  in 
his  conversation  and  manners  of  any  I  ever  knew, 
nor  less  remarkable  for  his  intelligence  and  sweet 
ness  of  temper.  You  are  not  to  imagine,  by  my 
beginning  with  his  mental  qualifications,  that  he 
is  defective  in  personal.  It  is  agreed,  on  all 
hands,  that  he  is  handsome;  his  features  are  good, 
his  eye  is  not  only  sprightly  and  expressive,  but 
it  is  full  of  benignity.  His  attitude,  in  sitting,  is, 
by  connoisseurs,  esteemed  graceful,  and  he  has  a 
method  of  waving  his  hand  that  announces  the 
future  orator.  He  stands,  however,  rather  awk 
wardly,  and  as  his  legs  have  not  all  the  delicate 
slimness  of  his  father's,  it  is  feared  he  may  never 
excel  as  much  in  dancing,  which  is  probably  the 
only  accomplishment  in  which  he  will  not  be  a 
model.  If  he  has  any  fault  in  manners,  he  laughs 
too  much.  He  has  now  passed  his  seventh  month. 
I  am  glad  to  find  your  prospect  of  being  set 
tled  approaches.  I  am  sure  you  will  realize  all 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  131 

the  happiness  you  promise  yourself  with  your  ami 
able  partner.  I  wish  fortune  had  not  cast  our 
lots  at  such  a  distance.  Mrs.  Meade,  you,  Betsey, 
and  myself,  would  make  a  most  affectionate  and 
most  happy  par  tie  qiiarr'e. 

As  to  myself  I  shall  sit  down  in  New  York, 
when  it  opens,  and  the  period,  we  are  told,  ap 
proaches.  No  man  looks  forward  to  a  peace  with 
more  pleasure  than  I  do,  though  no  man  would 
sacrifice  less  to  it  than  myself,  if  I  were  not  con 
vinced  the  people  sigh  for  peace.  I  have  been 
studying  the  law  for  some  months,  and  have  lately 
been  licensed  as  an  attorney.  I  wish  to  prepare  my 
self  by  October  for  examination  as  a  counsellor,  but 
some  public  avocations  may  possibly  prevent  me. 

I  had  almost  forgotten  to  tell  you  that  I  have 
been  pretty  unanimously  elected  by  the  legislature 
of  this  state,  a  member  of  congress,  to  begin  to  serve 
in  November.  I  do  not  hope  to  reform  the  state, 
although  I  shall  endeavour  to  do  all  the  good  I  can. 

Suffer  Betsey  and  me  to  present  our  love  to 
Mrs.  Meade.  She  has  a  sisterly  affection  for  you. 

My  respects,  if  you  choose,  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Fitzhugh.  God  bless  you. 

A.  HAMILTON. 


i32  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 


To  GENERAL  GREENE 

ALBANY,  October  12,  1782. 

Dear  General,  —  It  is  an  age  since  I  have  either 
written  to  you  or  received  a  line  from  you ;  yet  I 
persuade  myself  you  have  not  been  the  less  con 
vinced  of  my  affectionate  attachment,  and  warm 
participation  in  all  those  events  which  have  given 
you  that  place  in  your  country's  esteem  and  appro 
bation  which  I  have  known  you  to  deserve,  while 
your  enemies  and  rivals  were  most  active  in  sully 
ing  your  reputation. 

You  will  perhaps  learn,  before  this  reaches  you, 
that  I  have  been  appointed  a  member  of  Congress. 
I  expect  to  go  to  Philadelphia  in  the  ensuing 
month,  where  I  shall  be  happy  to  correspond  with 
you  with  all  our  ancient  confidence;  and  I  shall 
entreat  you  not  to  confine  your  observations  to 
military  subjects,  but  to  take  in  the  whole  scope 
of  national  concerns.  I  am  sure  your  ideas  will 
be  useful  to  me  and  to  the  public. 

I  feel  the  deepest  affliction  at  the  news  we  have 
just  received  of  the  loss  of  our  dear  and  estimable 
friend  Laurens.  His  career  of  virtue  is  at  an  end. 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  133 

How  strangely  are  human  affairs  conducted,  that 
so  many  excellent  qualities  could  not  insure  a 
more  happy  fate !  The  world  will  feel  the  loss  of 
a  man  who  has  left  few  like  him  behind,  and 
America  of  a  citizen  whose  heart  realized  that 
patriotism  of  which  others  only  talk.  I  shall  feel 
the  loss  of  a  friend  I  most  truly  and  tenderly  loved, 
and  one  of  a  very  small  number. 

I  take  the  liberty  to  enclose  a  letter  to  Mr.  Kane, 
executor  to  the  estate  of  Mr.  Lavine,  a  half-brother 
of  mine,  who  died  some  time  since  in  South 
Carolina. 

I  am,  dear  sir,  truly  your  friend  and  servant, 

A.  HAMILTON. 


1  The  last  and  most  important  paragraph  of  this  letter  is  but  indi 
cated  by  stars  in  the  "  Works  of  Alexander  Hamilton,"  which  contains 
such  a  bulk  of  correspondence  that  more  than  one  paragraph,  believed 
unimportant  by  J.  C.  Hamilton,  was  dropped.  But  the  letter  may  be 
found  in  its  entirety  in  the  second  volume  of  the  "  Life,"  by  his  son, 
page  7.  —  ED. 


i34  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 


To  LAFAYETTE 

ALBANY,  November  3,  1782. 

Since  we  parted,  my  dear  Marquis,  at  York-town, 
I  have  received  three  letters  from  you ;  one  written 
on  your  way  to  Boston,  two  from  France.  I 
acknowledge  that  I  have  written  to  you  only 
once;  but  the  reason  has  been,  that  I  have  been 
taught  daily  to  expect  your  return.  This  I  should 
not  have  done  from  my  own  calculations ;  for  I  saw 
no  prospect  but  of  an  inactive  campaign ;  and  you 
had  much  better  be  intriguing  for  your  hobbyhorse 
at  Paris,  than  loitering  away  your  time  here.  Yet 
they  seem  to  be  convinced,  at  head  quarters,  that 
you  were  certainly  coming  out ;  and  by  your  letters 
it  appears  to  have  been  your  own  expectation.  I 
imagine  you  have  relinquished  it  by  this  time. 

I  have  been  employed  for  the  last  ten  months  in 
rocking  the  cradle  and  studying  the  art  of  fleecing 
my  neighbours.  I  am  now  a  grave  counsellor-at- 
law,  and  shall  soon  be  a  grave  member  of  Congress. 
The  Legislature,  at  their  last  session,  took  it  into 
their  heads  to  name  me,  pretty  unanimously,  one  of 
their  delegates. 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  135 

I  am  going  to  throw  away  a  few  more  months  in 
public  life,  and  then  retire  a  simple  citizen  and  good 
paterfamilias.  I  set  out  for  Philadelphia  in  a  few 
days.  You  see  the  disposition  I  am  in.  You  are 
condemned  to  run  the  race  of  ambition  all  your  life. 
I  am  already  tired  of  the  career,  and  dare  to  leave  it. 

But  you  would  not  give  a  pin  for  my  letter 
unless  politics  and  war  made  a  part  of  it. 


Is  there  anything  you  wish  on  this  side  of  the 
water?  You  know  the  warmth  and  sincerity  of 
my  attachment.  Command  me. 

I  have  not  been  so  happy  as  to  see  M.  De  Segur. 
The  title  of  your  friend  would  have  been  a  title  to 
everything  in  my  power  to  manifest. 

Yours  pour  la  vie, 

A.  HAMILTON. 

P.S.  I  wrote  a  long  letter  to  the  Viscount  de 
Noailles,  whom  I  also  love.  Has  he  received  it? 
Is  the  worthy  Gouvion  well  ?  Has  he  succeeded  ? 
How  is  it  with  our  friend  Gimat  ?  How  is  it 
with  General  du  Portail  ? 

Poor  Laurens !  He  has  fallen  a  sacrifice  to  his 
ardour  in  a  trifling  skirmish  in  South  Carolina. 


136  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

You  know  how  truly  I  loved  him,  and  will  judge 
how  much  I  regret  him. 

I  will  write  you  again  soon  after  my  arrival  at 

Philadelphia. 

J\»  il« 

To  JAMES   HAMILTON,   JR. 

NEW- YORK,  June  23,  1783. 

My  dear  Brother,  —  I  have  received  your  letter 
of  the  3ist  of  May  last,  which,  and  one  other,  are 
the  only  letters  I  have  received  from  you  in  many 
years.  I  am  a  little  surprised  you  did  not  receive  one 
which  I  wrote  to  you  about  six  months  ago.  The 
situation  you  describe  yourself  to  be  in  gives  me 
much  pain,  and  nothing  will  make  me  happier  than, 
as  far  as  may  be  in  my  power,  to  contribute  to 
your  relief. 

I  will  cheerfully  pay  your  draft  upon  me  for 
fifty  pounds  sterling,  whenever  it  shall  appear. 
I  wish  it  was  in  my  power  to  desire  you  to  enlarge 
the  sum ;  but  though  my  future  prospects  are  of 
the  most  flattering  kind,  my  present  engagements 
would  render  it  inconvenient  for  me  to  advance 
you  a  larger  sum. 

My  affection  for  you,  however,  will  not  permit 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 


137 


me  to  be  inattentive  to  your  welfare,  and  I  hope 
time  will  prove  to  you  that  I  feel  all  the  sentiments 
of  a  brother.  Let  me  only  request  you  to  exert 
your  industry  for  a  year  or  two  more  where  you 
are,  and  at  the  end  of  that  time  I  promise  myself 
to  be  able  to  invite  you  to  a  more  comfortable 
settlement  in  this  country.  Allow  me  only  to  give 
you  one  caution,  which  is,  to  avoid,  if  possible, 
getting  into  debt.  Are  you  married  or  single? 
If  the  latter,  it  is  my  wish,  for  many  reasons,  that 
you  may  continue  in  that  state. 

But  what  has  become  of  our  dear  father  ?     It  is 

an  age  since   I   have    heard   from   him,  though    I 

have   written   him  several   letters.     Perhaps,  alas ! 

he  is  no  more,  and  I  shall   not  have  the  pleasing 

opportunity  of  contributing  to  render  the  close  of 

his  life  more  happy  than  the  progress  of  it.     My 

heart  bleeds  at  the  recollection  of  his  misfortunes 

and   embarrassments.     Sometimes    I  flatter  myself 

his   brothers  have  extended  their  support  to  him, 

>and  that  now  he   is   enjoying  tranquillity  and  ease; 

[at  other  times   I  fear  he  is  suffering  in  indigence. 

I  entreat  you,  if  you  can,  to  relieve  me  from  my 

toubts,  and  let  me  know  how  or  where  he  is,  if 

live;    if  dead,  how  and  where  he  died.     Should 


i38  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S  LETTERS 

he  be  alive  inform  him  of  my  inquiries,  beg  him 
to  write  to  me,  and  tell  him  how  ready  I  shall  be  to 
devote  myself  and  all  I  have  to  his  accommodation 
and  happiness. 

I  do  not  advise  you  coming  to  this  country  at 
present,  for  the  war  has  also  put  things  out  of 
order  here,  and  people  in  your  business  find  a  sub 
sistence  difficult  enough.  My  object  will  be,  by 
and  by,  to  get  you  settled  on  a  farm. 

Believe  me,  always  your  affectionate  friend  and 

brother, 

ALEX.  HAMILTON. 

To  MRS.  HAMILTON 

PHILADELPHIA,  July  22,  1783. 

I  wrote  you,  my  beloved  Eliza,  by  the  last  post, 
which  I  hope  will  not  meet  with  the  same  fate  that 
many  others  of  my  letters  must  have  met  with.  I 
count  upon  setting  out  to  see  you  in  four  days;  but  I 
have  been  so  frequently  disappointed  by  unforeseen 
events,  that  I  shall  not  be  without  apprehensions  of 
being  detained,  till  I  have  begun  my  journey.  The 
members  of  Congress  are  very  pressing  with  me  not 
to  go  away  at  this  time,  as  the  House  is  thin,  and  as 
the  definitive  treaty  is  momently  expected. 


A   FEW  OF  HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 


139 


Tell  your  father  that  Mr.  Rivington,  in  a  letter 
to  the  South  Carolina  delegates,  has  given  informa 
tion,  coming  to  him  from  Admiral  Arbuthnot,  that 
the  Mercury  frigate  is  arrived  at  New- York  with 
the  definitive  treaty,  and  that  the  city  was  to  be 
evacuated  yesterday,  by  the  treaty. 

I  am  strongly  urged  to  stay  a  few  days  for  the 
ratification  of  the  treaty;  at  all  events,  however,  I 
will  not  be  long  absent. 

I  give  you  joy  of  the  happy  conclusion  of  this 
important  work  in  which  your  country  has  been 
engaged.  Now,  in  a  very  short  time,  I  hope  we 
shall  be  happily  settled  in  New- York. 

My  love  to  your  father.     Kiss  my  boy  a  thousand 

times. 

A.  HAMILTON. 


FROM   LAFAYETTE 

PARIS,  April,  1785. 

My  dear  Hamilton,  —  Although  I  have  just  now 
itten  to  M'Henry,  requesting  him  to  impart  my 
gazette    to  you,  a   very  barren   one   indeed,  I  feel 
ithin  myself   a  want  to  tell  you,  I  love  you  ten- 
lerly.       Your     brother     Church     has    sailed    for 
(America,  since  which  I  had  a  letter  from  his  lady, 


140  A   FEW  OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

who  is  in  very  good  health.  By  an  old  letter  from 
our  friend  Greene,  I  have  been  delighted  to  find  he 
consents  to  send  his  son  to  be  educated  with  mine ; 
the  idea  makes  me  very  happy.  I  wish,  dear 
Hamilton,  you  would  honour  me  with  the  same 
mark  of  your  friendship  and  confidence.  As  there 
is  no  fear  of  a  war,  I  intend  visiting  the  Prussian 
and  Austrian  troops.  In  one  of  your  New- York 
Gazettes  I  find  an  association  against  the  slavery  of 
negroes,  which  seems  to  me  worded  in  such  a  way 
as  to  give  no  offence  to  the  moderate  men  of  the 
southern  States.  As  I  have  ever  been  partial  to  my 
brethren  of  colour,  I  wish,  if  you  are  one  in  the 
society,  you  would  move,  in  your  own  name,  for  my 
being  admitted  on  the  list.  My  best  respects  wait 
on  Mrs.  Hamilton. 

Adieu. 

Your  affectionate  friend, 

LA  FAYETTE. 


FROM  WASHINGTON 

MOUNT  VERNON,  October  18,  1787. 

Dear  Sir,  —  Your  favour,  without  date,  came  to 
my  hand  by  the   last   post.     It  is  with   unfeigned 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  141 

concern  I  perceive  that  a  political  dispute  has 
arisen  between  Gov.  Clinton  and  yourself.  For 
both  of  you  I  have  the  highest  esteem  and  regard. 
But  as  you  say  it  is  insinuated  by  some  of  your 
political  adversaries,  and  may  obtain  credit,  "that 
you  palmed  yourself  upon  me  and  was  dismissed 
from  my  family,"  and  call  upon  me  to  do  you  justice 
by  a  recital  of  the  facts ;  I  do,  therefore,  explicitly 
declare,  that  both  charges  are  entirely  unfounded. 
With  respect  to  the  first,  I  have  no  cause  to  believe 
that  you  took  a  single  step  to  accomplish,  or  had 
the  most  distant  idea  of  receiving  an  appointment 
in  my  family  until  you  were  invited  thereto.  And 
with  respect  to  the  second,  that  your  quitting  it  was 
altogether  the  effect  of  your  own  choice. 

When  the  situation  of  this  country  calls  for  una 
nimity  and  vigour,  it  is  to  be  lamented  that  gen 
tlemen  of  talent  and  character  should  disagree  in 
their  sentiments  for  promoting  the  public  weal ;  but 
unfortunately  this  ever  has  been,  and  more  than 
probable  ever  will  be,  the  case  in  the  affairs  of 
men. 

Having  scarcely  been  from  home  since  my  return 
from  Philadelphia,  I  can  give  but  little  information 
with  respect  to  the  general  reception  of  the  new 


142  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

constitution  in  this  State.  In  Alexandria,  however, 
and  some  of  the  adjacent  counties,  it  has  been 
embraced  with  an  enthusiastic  warmth  of  which  I 
had  no  conception.  I  expect,  notwithstanding,  vio 
lent  opposition  will  be  given  to  it  by  some  characters 
of  weight  and  influence  in  the  State. 

Mrs.  Washington  unites  with  me  in  sending  her 
best  wishes  for  Mrs.  Hamilton  and  yourself. 

I  am,  dear  Sir, 

Your  most  obedient  and  affectionate  friend, 

G.  WASHINGTON. 

To  WASHINGTON 

October  30th,  1787. 

I  am  much  obliged  to  your  Excellency  for  the 
explicit  manner  in  which  you  contradict  the  insinua 
tions  mentioned  in  my  last  letter.  The  only  use  I 
shall  make  of  your  answer  will  be  to  put  it  into  the 
hands  of  a  few  friends. 

The  constitution  proposed  has  in  this  State  warm 
friends,  and  warm  enemies.  The  first  impressions 
everywhere  are  in  its  favour;  but  the  artillery  of 
its  opponents  makes  some  impression.  The  event 
cannot  yet  be  foreseen.  The  inclosed  is  the  first 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  143 

number  of  a  series  of  papers  to  be  written  in  its 
defence. 

I  send  you,  also,  at  the  request  of  the  Baron 
De  Steuben,  a  printed  .pamphlet,  containing  the 
grounds  of  an  application  lately  made  to  Congress. 
He  tells  me  there  is  some  reference  to  you,  the 
object  of  which  he  does  not  seem  clearly  to  under 
stand  ;  but  imagines  it  may  be  in  your  power  to  be 
of  service  to  him. 

There  are  public  considerations  that  induce  me 
to  be  somewhat  anxious  for  his  success.  He  is 
fortified  with  materials,  which,  in  Europe,  could 
not  fail  to  establish  the  belief  of  the  contract  he 
alleges.  The  documents  of  service  he  possesses  are 
of  a  nature  to  convey  an  exalted  idea  of  them. 
The  compensations  he  has  received,  though  con 
siderable,  if  compared  with  those  which  have  been 
received  by  American  officers,  will,  according  to 
European  ideas,  be  very  scanty  in  application  to  a 
stranger  who  is  acknowledged  to  have  rendered 
essential  services.  Our  reputation  abroad  is  not 
at  present  too  high.  To  dismiss  an  old  soldier, 
empty  and  hungry,  to  seek  the  bounty  of  those  on 
whom  he  has  no  claims,  and  to  complain  of  unkind 
returns  and  violated  engagements,  will  certainly 


i44  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

not  tend  to  raise  it.  I  confess,  too,  there  is  some 
thing  in  my  feelings  which  would  incline  me  in  this 
case  to  go  farther  than  might  be  strictly  necessary, 
rather  than  drive  a  man,  at  the  Baron's  time  of  life, 
who  has  been  a  faithful  servant,  to  extremities. 
And  this  is  unavoidable  if  he  does  not  succeed  in 
his  present  attempt.  What  he  asks  would,  all 
calculations  made,  terminate  in  this,  an  allowance 
of  his  five  hundred  and  eighty  guineas  a  year.  He 
only  wishes  a  recognition  of  the  contract.  He 
knows  that  until  affairs  mend  no  money  can  be 
produced.  I  do  not  know  how  far  it  may  be  in 
your  power  to  do  him  any  good ;  but  I  shall  be 
mistaken  if  the  considerations  I  have  mentioned  do 
not  appear  to  your  Excellency  to  have  some  weight. 
I  remain,  with  great  respect  and  esteem, 

Your  Excellency's  obedient  servant, 

A.  HAMILTON. 


IV 
THE  SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY 


To   LAFAYETTE 

NEW  YORK,  October  6th,  1789. 

My  dear  Marquis,  —  I  have  seen,  with  a  mix 
ture  of  pleasure  and  apprehension,  the  progress 
of  the  events  which  have  lately  taken  place  in 
your  country.  As  a  friend  to  mankind  and  to 
liberty,  I  rejoice  in  the  efforts  which  you  are 
making  to  establish  it,  while  I  fear  much  for  the 
final  success  of  the  attempts,  for  the  fate  of  those 
I  esteem  who  are  engaged  in  it,  and  for  the 
danger,  in  case  of  success,  of  innovations  greater 
than  will  consist  with  the  real  felicity  of  your 
nation.  If  your  affairs  still  go  well,  when  this 
reaches  you,  you  will  ask  why  this  foreboding  of 
evil,  when  all  the  appearances  have  been  so  much 
in  your  favour.  I  will  tell  you :  I  dread  disagree 
ments  among  those  who  are  now  united,  (which 
will  be  likely  to  be  improved  by  the  adverse  party,) 
about  the  nature  of  your  constitution ;  I  dread  the 
vehement  character  of  your  people,  whom  I'  fear 
you  may  find  it  more  easy  to  bring  on  than  to  keep 

147 


148  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

within  proper  bounds  after  you  have  put  them  in 
motion.  I  dread  the  interested  refractoriness  of 
your  nobles,  who  cannot  all  be  gratified,  and  who 
may  be  unwilling  to  submit  to  the  requisite  sacri 
fices.  And  I  dread  the  reveries  of  your  philosophic 
politicians,  who  appear  in  the  moment  to  have  great 
influence,  and  who,  being  mere  speculatists,  may  aim 
at  more  refinement  than  suits  either  with  human 
nature  or  the  composition  of  your  nation. 

These,  my  dear  Marquis,  are  my  apprehensions. 
My  wishes  for  your  personal  success,  and  that  of 
the  cause  of  liberty  are  incessant.  You  are  com 
bined  with  a  great  and  good  man ;  you  will  antici 
pate  the  name  of  Necker.  I  trust  you  and  he 
will  never  cease  to  harmonize. 

You  will,  I  presume,  have  heard  before  this  gets 
to  hand,  that  I  have  been  appointed  to  the  head 
of  the  finances  in  this  country.  This  event,  I  am 
sure  will  give  you  pleasure.  In  undertaking  the 
task  I  hazard  much,  but  I  thought  it  an  occasion 
that  called  upon  me  to  hazard.  I  have  no  doubt 
that  the  reasonable  expectation  of  the  public  may 
be  satisfied,  if  I  am  properly  supported  by  the 
Legislature,  and  in  this  respect,  I  stand  at  present 
on  the  most  encouraging  footing. 


A   FEW  OF  HAMILTON'S  LETTERS  149 

The  debt  due  to  France,  will  be  among  the  first 
objects  of  my  attention.  Hitherto  it  has  been 
from  necessity  neglected.  The  session  of  Congress 
is  now  over.  It  has  been  exhausted  in  the  organi 
zation  of  the  government,  and  in  a  few  laws  of 
immediate  urgency  respecting  navigation  and  com 
mercial  imposts.  The  subject  of  the  debt,  foreign 
and  domestic,  has  been  referred  to  the  next  session, 
which  will  commence  the  first  Monday  in  January 
with  an  instruction  to  me  to  prepare  and  report  a 
plan  comprehending  an  adequate  provision  for  the 
support  of  the  public  credit.  There  were  many 
good  reasons  for  a  temporary  adjournment. 

From  this  sketch  you  will  perceive  that  I  am 
not  in  a  situation  to  address  anything  officially  to 
your  administration;  but  I  venture  to  say  to  you, 
as  my  friend,  that  if  the  instalments  of  the  principal 
of  the  debt  could  be  suspended  for  a  few  years, 
it  would  be  a  valuable  accommodation  to  the 
United  States.  In  this  suggestion,  I  contemplate 
a  speedy  payment  of  the  arrears  of  interest  now 
due,  and  effectual  provision  for  the  punctual  pay 
ment  of  future  interest  as  it  arises.  Could  an 
arrangement  of  this  sort  meet  the  approbation  of 
your  government,  it  would  be  best  on  every  ac- 


150  A  FEW  OF   HAMILTON'S  LETTERS 

count  that  the  offer  should  come  unsolicited  as  a 
fresh  mark  of  good  will. 

I  wrote  you  last  by  M.  de  Varville.     I  presume 
you  received  my  letter.     As  it  touched  some  deli 
cate  topics,  I  should  be  glad  to  know  its  fate. 
Yours,  with  unalterable  esteem  and  affection, 

ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 


FROM  GULIAN  VERPLANCK 

NEW-YORK,  29th  December,  1791. 

Sir,  —  A  number  of  your  fellow-citizens,  desirous 
of  expressing  the  sense  they  entertain  of  the  im 
portant  services  you  have  rendered  your  country, 
have  raised  by  subscription  a  sum  of  money  to 
defray  the  expense  of  a  portrait  of  you,  to  be  exe 
cuted  by  Mr.  Trumbull,  and  placed  in  one  of  our 
public  buildings. 

We  have  therefore  to  request  that  you  will  be 
so  condescending  as  to  allow  Mr.  Trumbull  to 
wait  upon  you  for  the  above  purpose,  at  such 
time  as  will  suit  your  conveniency;  and  will  also 
be  pleased  to  permit  the  representation  to  exhibit 
such  part  of  your  political  life  as  may  be  most 
agreeable  to  yourself. 


A  FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  151 

We  have  the  honour  to  be,  with  perfect  senti 
ments  of  esteem  and  respect,  your  most  humble 
servants, 

GULIAN  VERPLANCK, 

ROGER  ALDEN, 


BROCKHOLST  LIVINGSTON, 
J.  WADDINGTON, 
CARLILE  POLLOCK, 


COMMITTEE. 


To  DUER 

PHILADELPHIA,  March  14,  1792. 

My  dear  Duer,  —  Your  letter  of  the  nth  got 
to  hand  this  day.  I  am  affected  beyond  measure 
at  its  contents,  especially  as  it  was  too  late  to  have 
any  influence  upon  the  event  you  were  apprehen 
sive  of,  Mr.  Wolcott's  instructions  having  gone 
off  yesterday. 

I  trust,  however,  the  alternative  which  they 
present  to  the  attorney  of  the  and  the  dis 

cretion  he  will  use  in  managing  the  affair,  will 
enable  you  to  avoid  any  pernicious  eclat,  if  your 
affairs  are  otherwise  retrievable. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  act  with  fortitude  and  honour. 
If  you  cannot  reasonably  hope  for  a  favourable 


152  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

extrication,  do  not  plunge  deeper.  Have  the  cour 
age  to  make  a  full  stop.  Take  all  the  care  you  can 
in  the  first  place  of  institutions  of  public  utility, 
and  in  the  next  of  all  fair  creditors. 

God  bless  you  and  take  care  of  you  and  your 
family.  I  have  experienced  all  the  bitterness  of 
soul  on  your  account  which  a  warm  attachment 
can  inspire.  I  will  not  now  pain  you  with  any 
wise  remarks,  though  if  you  recover  the  present 
stroke,  I  shall  take  great  liberties  with  you.  As 
sure  yourself,  in  good  and  bad  fortune,  of  my  sin 
cere  friendship  and  affection. 

Adieu, 

A.  H. 

FROM  WASHINGTON 

(Marked  Private) 

MOUNT  VERNON,  26  August,  1792. 

My  dear  Sir,  — ...  Differences  in  political  opin 
ions  are  as  unavoidable,  as,  to  a  certain  point, 
they  may  be  necessary;  but  it  is  exceedingly  to 
be  regretted  that  subjects  cannot  be  discussed 
with  temper  on  the  one  hand,  or  decisions  sub 
mitted  to,  without  having  the  motives  which  led 
to  them  improperly  implicated  on  the  other;  and 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  153 

this  regret  borders  on  chagrin,  when  we  find  that 
men  of  abilities,  zealous  patriots,  having  the  same 
general  objects  in  view,  and  the  same  upright 
intentions  to  prosecute  them,  will  not  exercise 
more  charity  in  deciding  on  the  opinions  and 
actions  of  one  another.  When  matters  get  to 
such  lengths,  the  natural  inference  is,  that  both 
sides  have  strained  the  cords  beyond  their  bearing, 
and  that  the  middle  course  would  be  found  the 
best,  until  experience  shall  have  decided  on  the 
right  way,  or  (which  is  not  to  be  expected,  because 
it  is  denied  to  mortals)  there  shall  be  some  in 
fallible  rule  by  which  we  could  forejudge  events. 
Having  premised  these  things,  I  would  fain 
hope  that  liberal  allowances  will  be  made  for  the 
political  opinions  of  each  other;  and  instead  of 
those  wounding  suspicions,  and  irritating  charges, 
with  which  some  of  our  gazettes  are  so  strongly 
impregnated,  and  cannot  fail,  if  persisted  in,  of 
pushing  matters  to  extremity,  and  thereby  to  tear 
the  machine  asunder,  that  there  might  be  mutual 
forbearances,  and  temporizing  yieldings  on  all  sides. 
Without  these  I  do  not  see  how  the  reins  of  gov 
ernment  are  to  be  managed,  or  how  the  Union  of 
the  States  can  be  much  longer  preserved. 


i54  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

How  unfortunate  would  it  be  if  a  fabric  so 
goodly,  erected  under  so  many  providential  cir 
cumstances,  and  in  its  first  stages  having  acquired 
such  respectability,  should,  from  diversity  of  senti 
ments,  or  internal  obstructions  to  some  of  the 
acts  of  government  (for  I  cannot  prevail  on  my 
self  to  believe  that  these  measures  are  as  yet  the 
deliberate  acts  of  a  determined  party),  be  harrowing 
our  vitals  in  such  a  manner  as  to  have  brought  us 
to  the  verge  of  dissolution.  Melancholy  thought! 
But  at  the  same  time  that  it  shows  the  conse 
quences  of  diversified  opinions,  when  pushed  with 
too  much  tenacity,  it  exhibits  evidence,  also,  of 
the  necessity  of  accommodation,  and  of  the  pro 
priety  of  adopting  such  healing  measures  as  may 
restore  harmony  to  the  discordant  members  of  the 
Union,  and  the  governing  powers  of  it. 

I  do  not  mean  to  apply  this  advice  to  any 
measures  which  are  passed,  or  to  any  particular 
character.  I  have  given  it  in  the  same  general 
terms  to  other  officers  of  the  government.1  My 

1  Washington  had  written  a  similar  but  sharper  letter  to  Jefferson. 
Hamilton,  fearing  for  the  permanence  of  his  institutions,  had  for  the 
first  time  applied  himself  in  print  to  the  demolishment  of  Jefferson ;  and 
Jefferson  and  Freneau,  in  the  National  Gazette,  were  hitting  back  with 
no  inconsiderable  venom. 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  155 

earnest  wish  is  that  balsam  may  be  poured  into 
all  the  wounds,  which  have  been  given,  to  pre 
vent  them  from  gangrening,  and  from  those  fatal 
consequences  which  the  community  may  sustain 
if  withheld.  The  friends  of  the  Union  must  wish 
this.  Those  who  are  not,  but  wish  to  see  it 
rended,  will  be  disappointed,  and  all  things,  I  hope 
will  go  well. 

We  have  learnt,  through  the  medium  of  Mr.  Har 
rison  to  Dr.  Craik,  that  you  have  some  thoughts 
of  taking  a  trip  this  way.  I  felt  pleasure  at 
hearing  it,  and  hope  it  is  unnecessary  to  add, 
that  it  would  be  considerably  increased  by  seeing 
you  under  this  roof ;  for  you  may  be  assured  of 
the  sincere  and  affectionate  regard  &c. 

To  WASHINGTON 

PHILADELPHIA,  9  September,  1792. 

Sir,  —  I  have  the  pleasure  of  your  private  letter 
)f  the  26th  of  August.  The  feelings  and  views 

hich  are  manifested  in  that  letter  are  such  as 
[  expected  would  exist.  And  I  most  sincerely 

gret  the  causes  of  the  uneasy  sensations  you 
xperience.  It  is  my  most  anxious  wish,  as  far 


156  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LE1TERS 

as  you  may  depend  upon  me,  to  smooth  the  path 
of  your  administration,  and  to  render  it  prosperous 
and  happy.  And,  if  any  prospect  shall  open  of 
healing  or  terminating  the  differences  which  exist, 
I  shall  most  cheerfully  embrace  it;  though  I 
consider  myself  as  the  deeply  injured  party.  The 
recommendation  of  such  a  spirit  is  worthy  of  the 
moderation  and  wisdom  which  dictated  it.  And 
if  your  endeavours  should  prove  unsuccessful,  I 
do  not  hesitate  to  say,  that  in  my  opinion  the 
period  is  not  remote  when  the  public  good  will 
require  SUBSTITUTES  for  the  DIFFERING  MEMBERS  of 
your  administration.  The  continuance  of  division 
there  must  destroy  the  energy  of  government,  which 
will  be  little  enough  with  the  strictest  union.  On 
my  part  there  will  be  a  most  cheerful  acquiescence 
in  such  a  result. 

I  trust,  Sir,  that  the  greatest  frankness  has  always 
marked,  and  will  always  mark,  every  step  of  my  con 
duct  toward  you.  In  this  disposition  I  cannot  con 
ceal  from  you,  that  I  have  had  some  instrumentality 
of  late  in  the  retaliations,  which  have  fallen  upon 
certain  characters,  and  that  I  find  myself  placed  in 
a  situation  not  to  be  able  to  recede  for  the  present. 

I  considered  myself  as  compelled  to  this  conduct- 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  157 

by  reasons  public  as  well  as  personal,  of  the  most 
cogent  nature.  I  know,  that  I  have  been  an  object 
of  uniform  opposition  from  Mr.  Jefferson  from  the 
moment  of  his  coming  to  the  city  of  New- York  to 
enter  upon  his  present  office.  I  know,  from  the 
most  authentic  sources,  that  I  have  been  the  frequent 
subject  of  the  most  unkind  whispers  and  insinua 
tions  from  the  same  quarter.  I  have  long  seen  a 
formed  party  in  the  legislature  under  his  auspices, 
bent  upon  my  subversion.  I  cannot  doubt,  from 
the  evidence  I  possess,  that  the  National  Gazette 
was-  instituted  by  him  for  political  purposes,  and 
that  one  leading  object  of  it  has  been  to  render 
me  and  all  the  measures  connected  with  my  depart 
ment  as  odious  as  possible. 

Nevertheless,  I  can  truly  say,  that,  except  ex 
planations  to  confidential  friends,  I  never  directly 
or  indirectly  retaliated  till  very  lately.  I  can  even 
assure  .you  that  I  was  instrumental  in  preventing 
a  very  severe  and  systematic  attack  upon  Mr. 
Jefferson  by  an  association  of  two  or  three  indi 
viduals  in  consequence  of  the  persecution  which 
he  brought  upon  the  Vice  President,  by  his  indis 
creet  and  light  letter  to  the  printer,  transmitting 
Paine  s  pamphlet. 


158 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 


As  long  as  I  saw  no  danger  to  the  government 
from  the  machinations  which  were  going  on,  I 
resolved  to  be  a  silent  sufferer  of  the  injuries  which 
were  being  done  me.  I  determined  to  avoid  giving 
occasion  to  anything,  which  could  manifest  to  the 
world  dissensions  among  the  principal  characters 
of  the  government;  a  thing  which  can  never 
happen  without  weakening  its  hands,  and  in  some 
degree  throwing  a  stigma  upon  it. 

But  when  I  no  longer  doubted,  that  there  jwas 
a  formed  party  deliberately  bent  upon  the  sub 
version  ei — measures,  which  in  its__£on§equences 
ie  govenimgjit ;  when  I  saw  that 
£n~e~  undoing  of  the  funding  system  in  particular 
(which,  whatever  may  be  the  original  merits  of  that 
system,  would  prostrate  the  credit  and  the  honour 
of  the  nation,  and  bring  the  governmejitJjQ&)  con 
tempt  with  that  description  ofinen^^sdio  are  in 

p    rmly   firm    SU]3£OrterS    pf^gove  HI  - 

ment),  was  an  avowed  object  of  the  party;  and 
that  all  possible  pains  were  taking  to  produce  that 
effect  by  rendering  it  odious  to  the  body  of  the 
people,  I  considered  it  as  a  duty  to  endeavour 
to  resist  the  torrent,  and  as  an  effectual  means  to 
that  end,  to  draw  aside  the  veil  from  the  principal 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  159 

actors.  To  this  strong  impulse,  to  this  decided 
conviction,  I  have  yielded.  And  I  think  events 
will  prove  that  I  have  judged  rightly. 

Nevertheless,  I  pledge  my  honour  to  you,  Sir, 
that,  if  you  shall  hereafter  form  a  plan  to  reunite 
the  members  of  your  administration  upon  some 
steady  principle  of  cooperation,  I  will  faithfully 
concur  in  executing  it  during  my  continuance  in 
office.  And  I  will  not  directly  or  indirectly  say 
or  do  a  thing,  that  shall  endanger  a  feud. 

I  have  had  it  very  much  at  heart  to  make  an 
excursion  to  Mount  Vernon  by  way  of  the  Federal 
City  in  the  course  of  this  month,  and  have  been 
more  than  once  on  the  point  of  asking  your  per 
mission  for  it.  But  I  now  despair  of  being  able 
to  effect  it.  I  am  nevertheless  equally  obliged  for 
your  kind  invitation. 

With  the  most  faithful  and  affectionate  attach 
ment, 

I  have  the  honour  to  remain,  Sir,  yours, 

ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 


i6o 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 


JEFFERSON   TO   WASHINGTON 

MONTICELLO,  9  September,  1792. 

Dear  Sir,  — ...  I  now  take  the  liberty  of  pro 
ceeding  to  that  part  of  your  letter  wherein  you 
notice  the  internal  dissensions,  which  have  taken 
place  within  our  government,  and  their  disagree 
able  effect  on  its  movements.  That  such  dissen 
sions  have  taken  place  is  certain,  and  even  among 
those  who  are  nearest  to  you  in  the  administra 
tion.  To  no  one  have  they  given  deeper  concern 
than  myself,  to  no  one  equal  mortification  at  being 
myself  a  part  of  them.  Though  I  take  to  myself 
no  more  than  my  share  of  the  general  observations 
of  your  letter,  yet  I  am  so  desirous  that  even  you 
should  know  the  whole  truth,  that  I  am  glad  to 
seize  every  occasion  of  developing  to  you  whatever 
I  do  or  think  relative  to  the  government,  and  shall 
therefore  ask  permission  to  be  more  lengthy  now, 
than  the  occasion  particularly  calls  for,  or  would 
otherwise  perhaps  justify. 

fc' ••    L^-T-II  mi,  „  — 

WneiT~T^lrrb:rrkGd   iH~4h£L^goyernmer^>  it   was 

with  a  determination  to  intermeddle  not  at  all    in 

" " ' 

the  legisla/tureTlmcT  iiu  lilllu  <is  possible  with  my 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  161 

co-departments.  The  first  and  only  instance  of 
variance  from  the  former  part  of  my  resolution, 
I  was  duped  into  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
and  made  a  tool  for  forwarding  his  schemes,  not 
then  sufficiently  understood  by  me;  and  of  all 
the  errors  of  my  political  life,  this  has  occasioned 
me .  the  deepest  regret.  It  has  ever  been  my 
purpose  to  explain  this  to  you,  when  from  being 
actors  on  the  scene  we  shall  have  become  unin 
terested  spectators  only.  The  second  part  of  my 
resolution  has  been  religiously  observed  with  the 
war  department;  and,  as  to  that  of  the  treasury, 
has  never  been  farther  swerved  from  than  by  the 
mere  enunciation  of  my  sentiments  in  conversation, 
and  chiefly  among  those,  who,  expressing  the  same 
sentiments,  drew  mine  from  me. 

If  it  has  been  supposed  that  I  have  ever  in 
trigued  among  the  members  of  the  legislature  to 
defeat  the  plans  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
it  is  contrary  to  all  truth.  As  I  never  had  the 
desire  to  influence  the  members,  so  neither  had 
I  any  other  means  than  my  friendships,  which  I 
valued  too  highly  to  risk  by  usurpations  on  their 
freedom  of  judgment  and  the  conscientious  pursuit 
of  their  own  sense  of  duty.  That  I  have  utterly, 


162  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

in  my  private  conversations,  disapproved  of  the 
system  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  I 
acknowledge  and  avow;  and  this  was  not  merely 
a  speculative  difference.  His  system  flowed  from 
principles  adverse  to  liberty,  and  was  calculated 
to  undermine  and  demolish  the  republic,  by  creat 
ing  an  influence  of  his  department  over  members 
of  the  legislature.  I  saw  this  influence  actually 
produced,  and  its  first  fruits  to  be  the  establish 
ment  of  the  great  outlines  of  his  project  by  the 
votes  of  the  very  persons,  who,  having  swallowed 
his  bait,  were  laying  themselves  out  to  profit  by 
his  plans;  and  that,  had  these  persons  withdrawn, 
as  those  interested  in  a  question  ever  should,  the 
vote  of  the  disinterested  majority  was  clearly  the 
reverse  of  what  they  made  it.  These  were  no 
longer  the  votes  then  of  the  representatives  of  the 
people ;  and  it  was  impossible  to  consider  their 
decisions  which  had  nothing  in  view  but  to  enrich 
themselves,  as  the  measures  of  the  fair  majority, 
which  ought  always  to  be  respected. 

If  what  was  actually  doing  begat  uneasiness  in 
those  who  wished  for  virtuous  government,  what 
was  further  proposed  was  not  less  threatening  to 
the  friends  of  the  constitution.  For,  in  a  report 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  163 

on  the  subject  of  manufactures  (still  to  be  acted 
upon),  it  was  expressly  assumed,  that  the  general 
government  has  a  right  to  exercise  all  powers, 
which  may  be  for  the  general  welfare,  that  is  to 
say,  all  the  legitimate  powers  of  government ;  since 
no  government  has  a  legrtmTiatexTight  to  do  what 
is  not  for  the  welfare  of  the  governed.  There  was 
indeed  a  sham  limitation  of  the  universality  oT  this 
power  to  cases  where  money  is  to  be  employed.  But 
about  what  is  it  that  rftoney  canr^^be  employed  ? 
Thus  the  object  of  these  plans  taken  together  is 
to  draw  all  the  powers  of  government  into  the 
hands  of  the  general  legislature,  to  establish  means 
for  corrupting  a  sufficient  corps  in  that  legislature 
to  divide  the  honest  votes,  and  preponderate  by 
their  own  the  scale  which  suited,  and  to  have 
that  corps  under  the  command  of  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  for  the  purpose  of  subverting,  step 
by  step,  the  principles  of  the  constitution,  which 
he  has  so  often  declared  to  be  a  thing  of  nothing, 
which  must  be  changed. 

Such  views  might  have  justified  something  more 
than  mere  expressions  of  dissent,  beyond  which, 
nevertheless,  I  never  went.  Has  abstinence  from 
the  department  committed  to  me  been  equally 


164  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

observed  by  him?  To  say  nothing  of  other  inter 
ferences  equally  known,  in  the  case  of  the  two 
nations  with  which  we  have  the  most  intimate 
connexions,  France  and  England,  my  system  was 
to  give  some  satisfactory  distinctions  to  the  former, 
of  little  cost  to  us,  in  return  for  the  solid  advan 
tages  yielded  us  by  them ;  and  to  have  met  the 
English  with  some  restrictions,  which  might  induce 
them  to  abate  their  severities  against  our  com 
merce.  I  have  always  supposed  this  coincided 
with  your  sentiments ;  yet  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  by  his  cabals  with  members  of  the  legis 
lature,  and  by  high-toned  declamation  on  other 
occasions,  has  forced  down  his  own  system,  which 
was  exactly  the  reverse.  He  undertook,  of  his  own 
authority,  the  conferences  with  the  ministers  of 
these  two  nations,  and  was  on  every  consultation, 
provided  with  some  report  of  a  conversation  with 
the  one  or  the  other  of  them,  adapted  to  his  views. 
These  views,  thus  made  to  prevail,  their  execu 
tion  of  course  fell  to  me  ;  and  I  can  safely  appeal 
to  you,  who  have  seen  all  my  letters  and  proceed 
ings,  whether  I  have  not  carried  them  into  exe 
cution  as  sincerely  as  if  they  had  been  my  own, 
though  I  ever  considered  them  as  inconsistent 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  165 

with  the  honour  and  interest  of  our  country. 
That  they  have  been  inconsistent  with  our  interest 
is  but  too  fatally  proved  by  the  stab  to  our  navi 
gation  given  by  the  French.  So  that  if  the  ques 
tion  be,  By  whose  fault  is  it  that  Colonel  Hamilton 
and  myself  have  not  drawn  together?  the  answer 
will  depend  on  that  to  two  other  questions. 
Whose  principles  of  administration  best  justify, 
by  their  purity,  conscientious  adherence?  And 
which  of  us  has,  notwithstanding,  stepped  farthest 
into  the  control  of  the  department  of  the  other? 
To  the  justification  of  opinions,  expressed  in  the 
way  of  conversation,  against  the  views  of  Colonel 
Hamilton,  I  beg  leave  to  add  some  notice  of  his 
late  charges  against  me  in  Fennds  Gazette;  for 
neither  the  style,  matter,  nor  venom  of  the  pieces 
alluded  to  can  leave  a  doubt  of  their  author. 
Spelling  my  name  and  character  at  full  length  to 
the  public,  while  he  conceals  his  own  under  the 
signature  of  "  An  American,"  he  charges  me  first, 
with  having  written  letters  from  Europe  to  my 
friends  to  oppose  the  present  constitution  while 
depending;  secondly  with  a  desire  of  not  paying 
the  public  debt ;  thirdly  with  setting  up  a  paper  to 
decry  and  slander  the  government. 


1 66  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

The  first  charge  is  most  false.  No  man  in  the 
United  States,  I  suppose,  approved  of  every  title 
in  the  constitution ;  no  one,  I  believe,  approved 
more  of  it  than  I  did ;  and  more  of  it  was  certainly 
disapproved  by  my  accuser  than  by  me,  and  of  its 
parts  most  vitally  republican.  Of  this  the  few 
letters  I  wrote  on  the  subject  (not  half  a  dozen,  I 
believe)  will  be  a  proof;  and  for  my  own  satisfac 
tion  and  justification,  I  must  tax  you  with  the 
reading  of  them  when  I  return  to  where  they  are. 
You  will  there  see,  that  my  objection  to  the 
constitution  was,  that  it  wanted  a  bill  of  rights, 
securing  freedom  of  religion,  freedom  of  the  press, 
freedom  from  standing  armies,  trial  by  jury,  and  a 
constant  habeas  corpus  act.  Colonel  Hamilton's 
was  that  he  wanted  a  King  and  a  House  of  Lords.1 
The  sense  of  America  has  approved  my  objection, 
and  added  the  bill  of  rights,  not  the  King  and 
Lords.  I  also  thought  a  longeT'tErm^-Qf  sejrvice, 
insusceptible  of  renewal,  would  have  made  a  Presi 
dent  more  independent.  My  country  has  thought 
otherwise,  and  I  have  acquiesced  implicitly.  He 

1  It  is  doubtful  if  Jefferson  persuaded  even  himself  of  the  truth  of 
this  nonsensical  charge,  of  which  there  has  never  been  a  suggestion  of 
proof. 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  167 

wished  the  general  government  should  have  power 
to  make  laws  binding  the  States  in  all  cases  what 
soever.  Our  country  has  thought  otherwise.  Has 
he  acquiesced  ?  Notwithstanding  my  wish  for  a 
bill  of  rights,  my  letters  strongly  urged  the  adop 
tion  of  the  constitution,  by  nine  states  at  least,  to 
secure  the  good  it  contained.  I  at  first  thought, 
that  the  best  method  of  securing  the  bill  of  rights 
would  be  for  four  states  to  hold  off  till  such  a  bill 
should  be  agreed  to.  But  the  moment  I  saw  Mr. 
Hancock's  proposition  to  pass  the  constitution  as 
it  stood,  and  give  perpetual  instructions  to  the 
representatives  of  every  State  to  insist  upon  a  bill 
of  rights,  I  acknowledged  the  superiority  of  his 
plan,  and  advocated  universal  adoption. 

The  second  charge  is  equally  untrue.  My  whole 
correspondence  while  in  France,  and  in  every  word, 
letter,  and  act  on  the  subject  since  my  return,  prove, 
that  no  man  is  more  ardently  intent  to  see  the 
public  debt  soon  and  sacredly  paid  off  than  I  am. 
This  exactly  marks  the  difference  between  Colonel 
Hamilton's  views  and  mine,  that  I  would  wish  the 
debt  paid  to-morrow ;  he  wishes  it  never  to  be  paid, 
but  always  to  be  a  thing  wherewith  to  corrupt  and 
manage  the  legislature. 


1 68  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

Thirdly,  I  have  never  inquired  what  number  of 
sons,  relations,  and  friends  of  senators,  representa 
tives,  printers,  or  other  useful  partisans  Colonel 
Hamilton  has  provided  for  among  the  hundred 
clerks  of  his  department,  the  thousand  excisemen, 
custom-house  officers,  loan-of-officers,  &c.,  &c.,  &c., 
appointed  by  him,  or  at  his  nod,  and  spread  over 
the  Union ;  nor  could  ever  have  imagined,  that  the 
man,  who  has  the  shuffling  of  millions  backwards 
and  forwards  from  paper  into  money,  and  money 
into  paper,  from  Europe  to  America,  and  America 
to  Europe,  the  dealing  out  of  Treasury  secrets 
among  his  friends  in  what  time  and  measure 
he  pleases,  and  who  never  slips  an  occasion  of 
making  friends  with  his  means ;  that  such  a  one,  I 
say,  would  have  brought  forward  a  charge  against 
me  for  having  appointed  the  poet  Freneau  trans 
lating  clerk  to  my  office  with  a  salary  of  two  hun 
dred  and  fifty  dollars  a  year. 

The  fact  stands  thus.  While  the  government 
was  at  New- York,  I  was  applied  to  on  behalf  of 
Freneau  to  know  if  there  was  any  place  within  my 
department  to  which  he  could  have  been  appointed. 
I  answered,  there  were  but  four  clerkships,  all  of 
which  I  found  full,  and  continued  without  any 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  i6g 

change.  When  we  removed  to  Philadelphia,  Mr. 
Pintard,  the  translating  clerk,  did  not  choose  to 
remove  with  us.  His  office  then  became  vacant. 
I  was  again  applied  to  there  for  Freneau,  and  had 
no  hesitation  to  promise  the  clerkship  for  him.  I 
cannot  recollect  whether  it  was  the  same  time,  or 
afterwards,  that  I  was  told  he  had  a  thought  of 
setting  up  a  newspaper  there ;  but,  whether  then 
or  afterwards,  I  considered  it  a  circumstance  of 
some  value,  as  it  might  enable  me  to  do  what  I  had 
long  wished  to  have  done,  that  is,  to  have  the 
material  parts  of  the  Leyden  Gazette  brought  under 
your  eye  and  that  of  the  public,  in  order  to  possess 
yourself  and  them  of  a  juster  view  of  the  affairs  of 
Europe,  than  could  be  obtained  from  any  other 
public  source.  This  I  had  ineffectually  attempted 
through  the  press  of  Mr.  Fenno  while  in  New- York, 
selecting  and  translating  passages  myself  at  first, 
then  having  it  done  by  Mr.  Pintard  and  the  trans 
lating  clerk.  But  they  found  their  way  too  slowly 
into  Mr.  Fenno's  papers.  Mr.  Bache  essayed  it 
for  me  in  Philadelphia ;  but  his,  being  a  daily  paper, 
did  not  circulate  sufficiently  in  the  other  States. 
He  even  tried,  at  my  request,  the  plan  of  a  weekly 
paper  of  recapitulation  from  his  daily  paper,  in 


170  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

hopes  that  it  might  go  into  the  other  States ;  but  in 
this  too  we  failed. 

Freneau,  as  translating  clerk  and  the  printer  of  a 
periodical  paper  likely  to  circulate  through  the 
States  (uniting  in  one  person  the  parts  of  Pintard 
and  Fenno),  revived  my  hopes  that  the  thing  could 
at  length  be  effected.  On  the  establishment  of 
his  paper,  therefore,  I  furnished  him  with  the 
Leyden  Gazette  with  an  expression  of  my  wish  that 
he  would  always  translate  and  publish  the 
material  intelligence  they  contained;  and  have 
continued  to  furnish  them  from  time  to  time,  as 
regularly  as  I  received  them.  But  as  to  any  other 
direction  or  indication  of  my  wish  how  his  press 
should  be  conducted,  what  sort  of  intelligence 
he  should  give,  what  essays  encourage,  I  can 
protest  in  the  presence  of  Heaven,  that  I  never 
did,  by  myself  or  any  other,  directly  or  indi 
rectly,  write,  dictate,  or  procure,  any  one  sentence 
or  sentiment  to  be  inserted  in  his  or  any  other 
gazette,  to  which  my  name  was  not  affixed,  or  that 
of  my  office.  I  surely  need  not  except  here  a  thing 
so  foreign  to  the  present  subject  as  a  little  para 
graph  about  our  Algerine  captives,  which  I  put 
once  into  Fenno's  paper. 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  171 

Freneau's  proposition  to  publish  a  paper  having 
been  about  the  time  that  the  writings  of  PUBLICOLA 
and  the  DISCOURSES  ON  DAVILA  had  a  good  deal 
excited  the  public  attention,  I  took  it  for  granted, 
from  Freneau's  character,  which  had  been  marked 
as  that  of  a  good  whig,  that  he  would  give  free 
place  to  pieces  written  against  the  aristocratical  and 
monarchical  principles  these  papers  had  inculcated. 
This  having  been  in  my  mind,  it  is  likely  enough  I 
may  have  expressed  it  in  conversation  with  others, 
though  I  do  not  recollect  that  I  did.  To  Freneau 
I  think  I  could  not,  because  I  had  still  seen  him  but 
once,  and  that  was  at  a  public  table,  at  breakfast  at 
Mrs.  Ellsworth's,  as  I  passed  through  New  York  the 
last  year ;  and  I  can  safely  declare,  that  my  expecta 
tions  looked  only  to  the  chastisement  of  the  aristo 
cratical  and  monarchical  writings,  and  not  to  any 
criticisms  on  the  proceedings  of  the  government. 

Colonel  Hamilton  can  see  no  motive  for  any  ap 
pointment,  but  that  of  making  a  convenient  partisan. 
But  you,  Sir,  who  have  received  from  me  recom 
mendations  of  a  Rittenhouse,  Barlow,  Paine,  will 
believe,  that  talents  and  science  are  sufficient  mo 
tives  with  me  in  appointments  to  which  they  are 
fitted ;  and  that  Freneau,  as  a  man  of  genius,  might 


172  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S  LETTERS 

find  a  preference  in  my  eye  to  be  a  translating  clerk, 
and  make  good  title  moreover  to  the  little  aids  I 
could  give  him  as  the  editor  of  a  gazette,  by  procur 
ing  subscriptions  to  his  paper  as  I  did,  some  time 
before  it  appeared,  and  as  I  have  with  pleasure  done 
for  the  labours  of  other  men  of  genius.  I  hold  it 
to  be  one  of  the  distinguishing  excellencies  of  an 
elective  over  hereditary  successions,  that  the  talents, 
which  nature  has  provided  in  sufficient  proportions, 
should  be  selected  by  the  society  for  the  govern 
ment  of  their  affairs,  rather  than  that  this  should 
be  transmitted  through  the  loins  of  knaves  and 
fools,  passing  from  the  debauchees  of  the  table  to 
those  of  the  bed. 

Colonel  Hamilton,  alias  "Plain  Facts"  says  that 
Freneau's  salary  began  before  he  resided  in  Phila 
delphia.  I  do  not  know  what  quibble  he  may  have 
in  reserve  on  the  word  "residence?  He  may  mean 
to  include  under  that  idea  the  removal  of  his  family; 
for  I  believe  he  removed  himself,  before  his  family 
did,  to  Philadelphia.  But  no  act  of  mine  gave  com 
mencement  to  his  salary  before  he  so  far  took  up  his 
abode  in  Philadelphia,  as  to  be  sufficiently  in  readi 
ness  for  the  duties  of  the  office.  As  to  the  merits 
or  demerits  of  his  paper,  they  certainly  concern 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  173 

me  not.  He  and  Fenno  are  rivals  for  the  public 
favour;  the  one  courts  them  by  flattery,  the  other  by 
censure;  and  I  believe  it  will  be  admitted  that  the 
one  has  been  as  servile  as  the  other  severe.  But 
is  not  the  dignity  and  even  decency  of  government 
committed,  when  one  of  its  principal  ministers 
enlists  himself  as  an  anonymous  writer  or  para- 
graphist  for  either  the  one  or  the  other  of  them? 
No  government  ought  to  be  without  censors ;  and, 
where  the  press  is  free,  no  one  ever  will.  If  virtu 
ous,  it  need  not  fear  the  fair  operation  of  attack  and 
defence.  Nature  has  given  to  man  no  other  means 
of  sifting  out  the  truth,  either  in  religion,  law,  or 
politics.  I  think  it  as  honourable  to  the  govern 
ment  neither  to  know  or  notice  its  sycophants  or 
censors,  as  it  would  be  undignified  and  criminal 
to  pamper  the  former  and  persecute  the  latter.  So 
much  for  the  past;  a  word  now  of  the  future. 

When  I  came  into  this  office,  it  was  with  a  reso 
lution  to  retire  from  it  as  soon  as  I  could  with 
decency.  It  pretty  nearly  appeared  to  me,  that 
the  proper  moment  would  be  the  first  of  those 
epochs  at  which  the  constitution  seems  to  have 
contemplated  a  periodical  change  or  renewal  of 
the  public  servants.  In  this  I  was  confirmed  by 


174  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

your  resolution  respecting  the  same  period,  from 
which,  however,  I  am  happy  in  hoping  you  have 
departed.  I  look  to  that  period  with  the  longing 
of  a  wave-worn  mariner,  who  has  at  length  the 
land  in  view,  and  shall  count  the  days  and  hours 
which  still  lie  between  me  and  it.  In  the  mean 
time  my  main  object  will  be  to  wind  up  the  business 
of  my  office,  avoiding  as  much  as  possible  all  new 
enterprises.  With  the  affairs  of  the  legislature,  as  I 
never  did  intermeddle,  so  I  certainly  shall  not  now 
begin.  I  am  more  desirous  to  predispose  everything 
for  the  repose,  to  which  I  am  withdrawing,  than 
expose  it  to  be  disturbed  by  newspaper  contests. 

If  these,  however,  cannot  be  avoided  altogether, 
yet  a  regard  for  your  quiet  will  be  a  sufficient 
motive  for  deferring  till  I  become  merely  a  pri 
vate  citizen,  when  the  propriety  or  impropriety  of 
what  I  may  say  or  do  may  fall  on  myself  alone. 
I  may  then,  too,  avoid  the  charge  of  misapply 
ing  that  time,  which,  now  belonging  to  those 
who  employ  me,  should  be  wholly  devoted  to 
their  service.  If  my  own  justification  or  the 
interests  of  the  republic  shall  require  it,  I  reserve 
to  myself  the  right  of  then  appealing  to  my 
country,  subscribing  my  name  to  whatever  I 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  175 

write,1  and  using  with  freedom  and  truth  the  facts 
and  names  necessary  to  place  the  cause  in  its  just 
form  before  that  tribunal.  To  a  thorough  disregard 
of  the  honours  and  emoluments  of  office,  I  join  as 
great  a  value  for  the  esteem  of  my  countrymen; 
and  conscious  of  having  merited  it  by  an  integ 
rity,  which  cannot  be  reproached,  and  by  an  en 
thusiastic  devotion  to  their  rights  and  liberty,  I 
will  not  suffer  my  retirement  to  be  clouded  by 
the  slanders  of  a  man,  whose  history,  from  the 
moment  at  which  history  can  stoop  to  notice  him, 
is  a  tissue  of  machinations  against  the  liberty  of 
the  country,  which  has  not  only  received  and  given 
him  bread,  but  heaped  its  honours  on  his  head. 

Still,  however,  I  repeat  the  hope,  that  it  will  not 
be  necessary  to  make  such  an  appeal.  Though 
little  known  to  the  people  of  America,  I  believe, 
that,  as  far  as  I  am  known,  it  is  not  as  an  enemy 
to  the  republic,  nor  an  intriguer  against  it,  nor  a 

1This  virtuous  fling  is  pointless,  for  the  anonymous  political  effu 
sion  was  the  custom  of  the  day.  Hamilton's  style  was  unmistak 
able,  and  he  never  disguised  it,  nor  denied  the  authorship  of  anything 
he  wrote.  On  the  contrary,  he  knew  the  additional  weight  such 
knowledge  must  give  to  anything  he  published ;  he  merely  followed 
the  fashion  of  the  day  in  using  a  fancy  signature,  usually  classical. 
The  Federalist  papers  were  signed  Publius,  and  even  Jefferson  would 
hardly  have  accused  him  of  being  ashamed  of  them!  —  ED. 


1 76  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

waster  of  its  revenue,  nor  prostitutor  of  it  to  the 
purposes  of  corruption,  as  the  American  repre 
sents  me ;  and  I  confide,  that  yourself  are  satis 
fied,  that,  as  to  dissensions  in  the  newspapers,  not 
a  syllable  of  them  has  ever  proceeded  from  me ; 
and  that  no  cabals  or  intrigues  of  mine  have  pro 
duced  those  in  the  legislature;  and  I  hope  I  may 
promise,  both  to  you  and  myself,  that  none  will  re 
ceive  aliment  from  me  during  the  short  space  I 
have  to  remain  in  office,  which  will  find  ample  em 
ployment  in  closing  the  business  of  the  department. 
...  In  the  mean  time,  and  ever,  with  great  and 
sincere  affection  and  respect,  dear  Sir,  your  most 
obedient  and  humble  servant, 

THOMAS    JEFFERSON.1 


FROM  JAMES   HAMILTON 

ST.  VINCENT,  June  I2th,  1793. 

Dear  Alexander, —  I  wrote  you  a  letter,  inclosed 
in  one  to  Mr.  Donald,  of  Virginia,  since  which  I  have 
had  no  further  accounts  from  you.  My  bad  state  of 

1  This  is  instructive  reading  in  the  light  of  the  proven  facts  of  his 
tory,  and  if  Jefferson  had  chosen  to  rear  a  monument  to  his  hypocrisy, 
he  could  hardly  have  done  better.  —  ED. 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  177 

health  has  prevented  my  going  to  sea  at  this  time 
—  being  afflicted  with  a  complication  of  disorders. 

The  war  which  has  lately  broken  out  between 
France  and  England  makes  it  very  dangerous 
going  to  sea  at  this  time.  However,  we  daily 
expect  news  of  a  peace,  and  when  that  takes  place, 
provided  it  is  not  too  late  in  the  season,  I  will 
embark  in  the  first  vessel  that  sails  for  Philadelphia. 

I  have  now  settled  all  my  business  in  this  part  of 
the  world,  with  the  assistance  of  my  good  friend, 
Mr.  Donald,  who  has  been  of  every  service  to  me 
that  lay  in  his  power,  in  contributing  to  make  my 
life  easy  at  this  advanced  period  of  life.  The 
bearer  of  this,  Captain  Sheriff,  of  the  brig  Dispatch, 
sails  direct  for  Philadelphia,  and  has  promised  to 
deliver  you  this  letter  with  his  own  hands ;  and  as 
he  returns  to  this  island  from  Philadelphia,  I  beg 
you  will  drop  me  a  few  lines,  letting  me  know  how 
you  and  your  family  keep  your  health,  as  I  am 
uneasy  at  not  having  heard  from  you  for  some  time 
past.  I  beg  my  respectful  compliments  to  Mrs. 
Hamilton  and  your  children,  and  wishing  you  health 
and  happiness,  I  remain,  with  esteem,  dear  Alexander, 
Your  very  affectionate  father, 

JAMES  HAMILTON. 


1 78  A  FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S  LETTERS 

To  

August,  1793. 

Dear  Sir,  —  Poor  Duer  has  now  had  a  long  and 
severe  confinement,  such  as  would  be  adequate 
punishment  for  no  trifling  crime.  I  am  well  aware 
of  all  the  blame  to  which  he  is  liable,  and  do  not 
mean  to  be  his  apologist,  though  I  believe  he  has 
been  as  much  the  dupe  of  his  own  imagination,  as 
others  have  been  the  victims  of  his  projects.  But 
what  then  ?  He  is  a  man  —  he  is  a  man  with 
whom  we  have  both  been  in  habits  of  friendly 
intimacy.  He  is  a  man,  who,  with  a  great  deal  of 
good  zeal,  has  in  critical  times  rendered  valuable 
services  to  the  country.  He  is  a  husband,  who  has 
a  worthy  and  most  amiable  wife,  perishing  with 
chagrin  at  his  situation;  —  your  relation  by  blood, 
mine  by  marriage  —  he  is  a  father,  who  has  a  num 
ber  of  fine  children,  destitute  of  the  means  of  educa 
tion  and  support,  every  way  in  need  of  his  future 
exertions. 

These  are  titles  to  sympathy,  which  I  shall  be 
mistaken  if  you  do  not  feel.  You  are  his  creditor. 
Your  example  may  influence  others.  He  wants 
permission,  through  a  letter  of  license,  to  breathe  the 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  179 

air  for  Jive  years.     Your  signature  to  the  enclosed 
draft  of  one  will  give  me  much  pleasure. 

Yours, 

A.  H. 

To   MRS.   NATHANAEL  GREENE 

PHILADELPHIA,  September  3rd,  1793. 

It  is  not  an  uncommon  thing  for  you  women  to 
bring  us  poor  men  into  scrapes.  It  seems  you 
have  brought  me  into  one.  You  will  wonder  how. 
Hear  the  tale. 

Shortly  after  I  came  into  office,  Wadsworth 
informed  me  that  Baron  Glaubeck  was  indebted  to 
General  Greene  (to  whom  he  had  behaved  in  a  very 
exceptionable  manner),  and  that  it  was  intended  to 
endeavour  to  purchase  of  Glaubeck  some  pay  which 
had  just  been  granted  to  him  by  Congress,  upon 
the  plan  of  advancing  to  him  a  certain  sum  of 
money  to  satisfy  his  immediate  necessities,  and 
the  residue  that  was  due  to  him  to  be  applied 
toward  the  indemnification  of  the  General's  estate, 
for  what  Glaubeck  owed  to  it.  I  afterwards  under 
stood  that  the  execution  of  this  plan  was  com 
mitted  to  Flint  or  Duer,  to  one  or  both  of  them 


i8o  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

—  and  that  a  purchase  of  the  claim  was  in  fact 
made  —  not  indeed  of  Glaubeck,  but  of  some 
person  to  whom  he  had  parted  with  it  for  some 
trifling  consideration  —  the  object  being  through 
out  to  benefit  you  by  way  of  indemnification  as 
above  mentioned. 

It  likewise  would  appear  from  the  Treasury 
records,  that  you  have  in  fact  received  the  whole 
benefit  of  the  purchase.  The  conversations  we  had 
together  when  you  were  last  in  Philadelphia,  assure 
me  at  least  that  the  certificate  for  four-fifths  of  his 
claim  accrued  immediately  to  your  use. 

Francis,  late  a  clerk  in  my  department  (partly 
from  resentment  at  a  disappointment  he  has  met 
with  at  the  Treasury,  and  partly,  I  believe,  from  its 
having  been  made  worth  his  while  by  some  political 
enemies  of  mine),  endeavours  to  have  it  believed 
that  this  transaction  was  a  speculation  in  which  I 
was  engaged,  and  in  proof  of  it  —  a  draft  of  a  power 
of  attorney,  corrected  by  some  interlineations  in  my 
handwriting,  as  he  asserts. 

I  do  not  recollect  this  part  of  the  business,  though 
I  think  it  is  very  possible  that  such  a  correction,  in 
such  a  draft,  may  have  been  made  by  me. 

For  Duer  and  Flint,  it  seems,  employed  Francis 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  181 

to  make  the  purchase ;  and  it  is  not  unlikely  that 
a  draft  of  the  power  for  the  purpose  may  have 
been  brought  to  me,  to  know  from  me  whether 
it  would  answer  the  purpose  of  the  Treasury  as 
a  competent  instrument ;  and  that  I  (believing  the 
design  to  be  such  as  I  have  represented,  one  not 
only  wholly  unexceptional  but  laudable  one  in  which 
my  friendship  for  you  would  naturally  take  part) 
may  have  taken  up  my  pen  and  made  such  cor 
rections  as  the  draft  might  appear  to  stand  in 
need  of. 

I  give  you  this  detail  to  show  you  how  I  may 
have  been  implicated. 

What  I  wish  of  you  is,  that  you  will  have  the 
goodness  to  state  in  writing  what  you  know  of 
the  affair;  ascertaining  that  the  purchase  was  for 
your  benefit,  and  the  cause  of  it;  and  that  you 
will  take  the  trouble  to  make  affidavit  to  the  state 
ment,  and  forward  to  me. 

As  it  is  an  affair  of  delicacy,  I  will  thank  you 
to  request  some  gentleman  of  the  law  to  give  form 
and  precision  to  your  narrative. 

You  perceive  that  it  is  not  in  one  way  only  that 
I  am  the  object  of  unprincipled  persecution ;  but 
I  console  myself  with  the  lines  of  the  poet  — 


182  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

He  must  needs  be  of  optics  keen, 
Who  sees  what  is  not  to  be  seen. 

And  with  this  belief,  that  in  spite  of  calumny, 
the  friends  I  love  and  esteem  will  continue  to  love 
and  esteem  me, 

Yours  sincerely, 

A.  H. 


IV 
THE   POWER   BEHIND   THE   THRONE 


FROM   M'HENRY 

NEW  BALTIMORE,  February  17,  1795. 

My  dear  Hamilton,  —  The  tempest  weathered 
and  landed  on  the  same  shore,  I  may  now  con 
gratulate  you  on  having  established  a  system  of 
credit,  and  having  conducted  the  affairs  of  our 
country  upon  principles  and  reasoning  which 
ought  to  insure  its  immortality,  as  itundoubtedly 
will  ydtrr-fame: "Fewpublic  men  haveT>een  so 
eminently*  fortunate  as  voluntarily  to  leave  so 
high  a  station  with  so  unsullied  a  character,  and 
so  well  assured  a  reputation ;  and  still  fewer  have 
so  well  deserved  the  gratitude  of  their  country, 
and  the  eulogiums  of  history.  Let  this  console 
you  for  past  toils  and  pains,  and  reconcile  you 
to  humbler  pleasures  and  a  private  life.  What 
remains  for  you,  having  insured  fame,  but  to 
insure  felicity  ?  Seek  for  it  in  the  moderate  pursuit 
of  your  profession,  or,  if  public  life  still  flatters, 
in  that  office  most  congenial  to  it ;  and  which  will 

185 


186  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S  LETTERS 

not  withdraw  you  from  those  literary  objects  that 
require  no  violent  waste  of  spirits,  and  those  little 
plans  that  involve  gentle  exercise,  and  which  you 
can  drop  or  indulge  in  without  injury  to  your  family. 
I  shall  expect  to  hear  from  you  as  soon  as  you 
get  fairly  settled.  Not  knowing  whether  I  ought 
to  address  to  you  at  Albany  or  New  York,  I  have 
sent  this  to  Mr.  Murray,  who  will  forward  it,  and 
who,  I  suppose,  knows.  Adieu. 
Sincerely  and  affectionately, 

JAMES  M'HENRY. 


To  THEODORE   SEDGWICK 

BRISTOL,  February  i8th,  1795. 

My  dear  Sedgwick,  —  Every  moment's  reflection 
increases  my  chagrin  and  disgust  at  the  failure 
of  the  propositions  concerning  the  unsubscribed 
debt.  I  am  tortured  by  the  idea  that  the  coun 
try  should  be  so  completely  and  unnecessarily 
dishonoured.  A  day  of  reckoning  must  come. 
I  pray  you  let  the  yeas  and  nays  separate  the 
wheat  from  the  chaff.  I  may  otherwise  have  to 
feel  the  distress  of  wounding  a  friend  by  a  shaft 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  187 

levelled  at   an   enemy.      The   case  is  an  extreme 
one.     Managements  are  every  way  improper. 
Yours  affectionately, 

A.  HAMILTON. 


To   RUFUS   KING 

KINGSTON,  February  2ist,  1795. 

My  dear  King,  —  The  unnecessary,  and  capri 
cious,  and  abominable  assassination  of  the  national 
honour,  by  the  rejection  of  the  propositions  re 
specting  the  unsubscribed  debt,  in  the  House 
of  Representatives,  haunts  me  every  step  I  take, 
and  afflicts  me  more  than  I  can  express.  To  see 
the  character  of  the  country  and  the  government 
so  sported  with  —  exposed  to  so  indelible  a  blot 
- — puts  my  heart  to  the  torture.  Am  I,  then, 
more  of  an  American  than  those  who  drew  their 
first  breath  on  American  ground?  Or  what  is  it 
that  thus  torments  me,  at  a  circumstance  so  calmly 
viewed  by  almost  everybody  else  ?  Am  I  a  fool 
—  a  romantic  Quixote  —  or  is  there  a  constitu 
tional  defect  in  the  American  mind?  Were  it 
not  for  yourself  and  a  few  others,  I  could  adopt 
the  reveries  of  De  Paux  as  substantial  truths, 


i88  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

and  could  say  with  him  that  there  is  something  in 
our  climate  which  belittles  every  animal,  human 
or  brute. 

I  conjure  you,  my  friend,  make  a  vigorous  stand 
for  the  honour  of  your  country !  Rouse  all  the 
energies  of  your  mind,  and  measure  swords  in  the 
Senate  with  the  great  slayer  of  public  faith  — 
the  hackneyed  veteran  in  the  violation  of  public 
engagements.  Prevent  him,  if  possible,  from  tri 
umphing  a  second  time  over  the  prostrate  credit 
and  injured  interests  of  his  country^  Unmask  his 
false  and  horrid  hypothesis.  Display  the  immense 
difference  between  an  able  statesman  and  the  man 
of  subtleties.  Root  out  the  distempered  and  noi 
some  weed  which  is  attempted  to  be  planted  in  our 
political  garden,  to  choke  and  wither,  in  its  infancy, 
the  fair  plant  of  public  credit. 

I  disclose  to  you,  without  reserve,  the  state  of 
my  mind.  It  is  discontented  and  gloomy  in  the 
extreme.  I  consider  the  cause  of  good  government 
as  having  been  put  to  an  issue,  and  the  verdict 
rendered  against  it. 

Introduce,  I  pray  you,  into  the  Senate,  when  the 
bill  comes  up,  the  clause  which  has  been  rejected, 
freed  from  embarrassment  by  the  bills  of  credit, 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  189 

bearing  interest  on  the  nominal  value.  Press  its 
adoption  in  this,  the  most  unexceptionable  shape, 
and  let  the  yeas  and  nays  witness  the  result. 

Among  the  other  reasons  for  this  is  my  wish  that 
the  true  friends  of  public  credit  may  be  distin 
guished  from  its  enemies.  The  question  is  too 
great  a  one  not  to  undergo  a  thorough  examination 
before  the  community.  It  would  pain  me  not  to  be 
able  to  distinguish. 

Adieu  !     God  bless  you. 

P.S.  Do  me  the  favour  to  revise  carefully  the 
course  of  the  bill  respecting  the  unsubscribed  debt, 
and  let  me  know  the  particulars.  I  wish  to  be  able 
to  judge  more  particularly  of  the  underplot  I  suspect. 

FROM   EDWARD   STEVENS 

PHILADELPHIA,  May,  1796. 

My  dear  Friend,  —  Almost  ever  since  your 
departure  I  have  been  confined  to  my  chamber, 
by  a  severe  and  obstinate  catarrh.  Though  much 
better,  at  present  my  health  is  so  much  deranged 
that  I  dread  encountering  the  warmth  of  the 
summer  months  in  this  city.  I  have,  therefore, 
determined  to  take  a  voyage  to  sea,  and  I  shall 


1 90  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

visit  St.  Croix  before  my  return.  Mrs.  Stevens 
has  concluded  to  accompany  me  with  our  little 
ones.  Our  absence  will  be  but  short.  If  no  un 
expected  event  takes  place,  we  shall  certainly 
return  by  the  month  of  September.  I  could  not, 
however,  leave  America,  without  assuring  you  of 
our  best  wishes  for  the  health  and  prosperity  of 
yourself  and  family.  May  every  blessing  attend 
you.  Mrs.  S.  unites  with  me  in  affectionate  re 
membrance  to  Mrs.  Hamilton. 

I  remain,  with  unfeigned  attachment, 
My  dear  Sir, 

Your  sincere  friend, 

EDWARD  STEVENS. 


FROM  MR.  GREENLEAF 

NEW- YORK,  July  27th,  1796. 

Dear  Sir,  —  The  indispensable  necessity  of  an 
immediate  though  short  respite  from  business, 
united  with  motives  of  interest,  and  an  unbounded 
attachment  to  reputation,  induce  me  to  make  a 
proposition  to  you  of  a  pretty  extraordinary  nature, 
but  which  after  due  reflection  I  flatter  myself  will 
be  deemed  not  unworthy  of  your  attention.  My 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  191 

engagements  of  every  possible  nature  do  not  exceed 
twelve  hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  my  real  and 
personal  estate  may  with  ease  be  liquidated  and 
made  to  produce  five  millions  of  dollars;  say, 
rather,  a  million  of  dollars  annually  for  five  con 
secutive  years ;  but  in  consequence  of  some  impor 
tant  and  unexpected  delinquencies  on  the  part  of 
persons  whose  engagements  have  become  due  to 
me,  and  must  be  paid  from  securities  given,  my 
own  engagements  become  due  more  rapidly  than 
my  means  (without  having  recourse  to  improper 
operations)  can  be  made  to  answer.  If  you  will 
now  be  induced  to  aid  me  with  your  name,  respon 
sibility,  and  talents,  in  the  liquidation  of  my  con 
cerns  and  payment  of  my  engagements,  in  such 
wise  that  no  undue  sacrifice  of  property  shall 
result,  and  my  name  be  borne  through  with  the 
credit  and  propriety  it  deserves,  the  one-third  part 
of  the  net  residue  of  my  whole  estate,  both  real 
and  personal,  after  payment  of  my  engagements, 
shall  become  yours,  provided  you  will  consent  that 
the  mass  shall  remain  undivided  for  ten  years,  and 
constitute  the  capital  of  a  banking-house,  to  be 
established  either  in  this  city  or  at  Philadelphia, 
in  our  joint  names  and  under  your  sole  guidance, 


192  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

and  the  profits  divided  between  us  in  equal  por 
tions. 

I  have  reason  to  believe  that,  with  the  aid  of 
your  name  and  our  joint  responsibility,  accom 
panied  with  the  names  of  three  other  persons  as 
trustees  for  deposited  property,  it  will,  by  a  reputa 
ble  mode  of  financing  I  shall  communicate,  be 
practicable  for  me  to  obtain  the  use  of  a  million  of 
dollars  at  legal  interest  for  the  average  term  of  five 
years,  and  with  this  sum  I  should  calculate  on  being 
able  to  pay  off  all  my  engagements  with  due  credit 
and  advantage,  as  considerable  amounts  are  due  at 
distant  periods,  and  may  be  purchased  in  at  a  con 
siderable  discount. 

If  these  outlines  so  far  meet  your  approbation  as 
to  induce  you  to  wish  my  entering  into  a  particular 
detail,  it  shall  be  done  at  such  time  as  will  best  suit 
your  leisure  and  convenience. 

To  GREENLEAF 

NEW-YORK,  July  3oth,  1796. 

Dear  Sir, —  I  have  carefully  reflected  upon  the 
subject  of  the  27th  instant. 

Though   the   data  which   it    presents    authorize 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  193 

an  expectation  of  large  pecuniary  advantage,  and 
though  I  discern  nothing  in  the  affair  which  an 
individual  differently  circumstanced  might  not  with 
propriety  enter  into ;  yet,  in  my  peculiar  situation, 
viewed  in  all  its  public  as  well  as  personal  relations, 
I  think  myself  bound  to  decline  the  overture. 


To   OLIVER  WOLCOTT 

August  3rd,  1796. 

Dear  Sir,  —  I  have  received  your  letter  of  the 
first.  I  deplore  the  picture  it  gives,  and  henceforth 
wish  to  forget  there  is  a  Bank  or  a  Treasury  in  the 
United  States,  though  I  shall  not  forget  my  regard 
to  individuals. 

I  do  not  see  one  argument  in  any  possible  shape 
of  the  thing,  for  the  sale  of  bank  stock  or  against 
that  of  the  other  stock,  which  does  not  apply  vice 
versa,  and  I  shall  consider  it  one  of  the  most  infatu 
ated  steps  that  ever  was  adopted. 

God  bless  you, 

A.  HAMILTON. 


194  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 


To  THEODORE  SEDGWICK 

February  26th,  1797. 

My  dear  Sir,  —  The  present  inimitable  course  of 
our  public  affairs  proves  me  to  be  a  very  bad  politi 
cian,  so  that  I  am  afraid  to  suggest  any  affair  that 
may  occur  to  me.  Yet  I  will  give  over  my  timidity 
and  communicate  for  your  consideration  a  reverie 
which  has  struck  me. 

It  is  a  fact  that  the  resentment  of  the  French 
government  is  very  much  levelled  at  the  actual 
President.  A  change  of  the  person  (however  unde 
sirable  in  other  respects)  may  give  a  change  to  the 
passion,  and  may  also  furnish  a  bridge  to  retreat 
over.  This  is  a  great  advantage  to  a  new  Presi 
dent,  and  the  most  ought  to  be  made  of  it.  For  it 
is  much  to  our  interest  to  preserve  peace,  if  we 
can  with  honour,  and  if  we  cannot,  it  will  be  very 
important  to  prove  that  no  endeavour  to  do  it  has 
been  omitted. 

Were  I  Mr.  Adams,  then,  I  believe  I  should 
begin  my  Presidency  by  naming  an  extraordinary 
commission  to  the  French  Republic,  and  I  think 
it  would  consist  of  three  persons:  Mr.  Madison, 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  195 

Mr.  Pinckney,  and  Mr.  Cabot.  I  should  pursue  this 
course  for  several  reasons ;  because  I  would  have  a 
man  as  influential  with  the  French  as  Mr.  Madi 
son  ;  yet  I  would  not  trust  him  alone,  lest  his  Galli 
cism  should  work  amiss,  —  because  I  would  not 
wound  Mr.  Pinckney,  so  recently  sent  in  the  same 
spirit;  thirdly,  I  think  Cabot  would  mix  very  useful 
ingredients  in  the  cup. 

The  commission  should  be  changed  to  make 
explanations  —  to  remonstrate,  to  ask  indemnifica 
tion,  and  they  should  be  empowered  to  make  a  new 
treaty  of  commerce  not  inconsistent  with  our  other 
treaties,  and  perhaps  to  abrogate  or  remodify  the 
treaty  of  alliance. 

That  treaty  can  only  be  inconvenient  to  us  in 
the  future.  The  guarantee  of  our  sovereignty  and 
independence  henceforth  is  nominal.  The  guar 
antee  of  the  West  India  Islands  of  France,  as  we 
advance  in  strength,  will  be  more  and  more  real. 
In  future,  and  in  a  truly  defensive  war,  I  think  we 
shall  be  bound  to  comply  efficaciously  with  our 
guarantee.  Nor  have  I  been  able  to  see  that  it 
means  less  than  obligation  to  take  part  in  such  a 
war  with  our  whole  force.  I  have  no  ideas  of 
treaties  which  are  not  executed. 


i96  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

Hence,  I  want  to  get  rid  of  that  treaty  by  mutual 
consent,  or  to  liquidate  its  meaning  to  a  treaty  of 
definite  succor  —  in  a  clearly  defensive  war;  so 
many  men,  so  many  ships,  so  much  money,  and  to 
be  furnished  by  one  ally  to  the  other.  This  of 
course  must  be  so  managed  as  to  exclude  unequivo 
cally  the  present  war  in  all  its  mutations. 

Such  objects  are  important  enough  for  three.  In 
executive  matters,  I  am  as  little  fond  as  most  people 
of  plurality ;  but  I  think  it  pedantry  to  admit  no  ex 
ceptions  to  any  general  rule,  and  I  believe,  under 
the  present  circumstances  of  the  case,  a  commission 
would  be  advisable.  I  give  my  dream  of  it  as  it  has 
occurred :  you  will  do  with  it  what  you  please. 

Yours, 

A.  H. 

To  HAMILTON  * 

ALBANY,  STATE  OF  NEW- YORK,  May  the  2d,  1797. 

My  dear  Sir,  —  Some  days  since  I  received  with 
great  pleasure  your  letter  of  the  loth  of  March. 
The  mark  it  affords  of  your  kind  attention,  and  the 

1  In  "  The  Works  of  Alexander  Hamilton  "  this  letter  has  a  blank 
in  place  of  the  first  name,  as  here  given.  But  this  correspondent  can 
be  none  other  than  Alexander  Hamilton,  third  son  of  Alexander  Hamil- 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  197 

particular  account  it  gives  me  of  so  many  relations 
in  Scotland,  are  extremely  gratifying  to  me.  You 
no  doubt  have  understood  that  my  father's  affairs 
at  a  very  early  day  went  to  wreck ;  so  as  to  have 
rendered  his  situation  during  the  greatest  part 
of  his  life  ineligible.  This  state  of  things  occa 
sioned  a  separation  between  him  and  me,  when  I 
was  very  young,  and  threw  me  upon  the  bounty 
of  my  mother's  relatives,  some  of  whom  were  then 

ton  of  Grange  and  Elizabeth,  his  wife,  parents  of  James  Hamilton. 
The  two  oldest  sons,  John  and  Robert,  dying  without  issue,  this  Alex 
ander  succeeded  to  the  estates.  He  had  a  number  of  children,  among 
them  a  son  Alexander,  who  also  corresponded  with  Hamilton.  Robert 
was  doubtless  another  son,  but  dying  undistinguished  in  the  United 
States,  was  lost  sight  of  by  the  genealogist. 

In  a  letter  to  Robert  Troup,  dated  July  25,  1795,  in  which  Hamilton 
tells  this  close  friend  that  he  has  made  him  executor  of  his  will,  and 
enumerates  his  obligations,  &c.,  he  makes  the  following  remarks,  re 
garding  his  father :  — 

"I  hesitated  whether  I  would  not  also  secure  a  preference  to  the 
drafts  of  my  father,  but  these,  as  far  as  I  am  concerned,  being  a  volun 
tary  engagement,  I  doubted  the  justice  of  the  measure,  and  I  have  done 
nothing.  I  regret  it  lest  they  should  return  upon  him  and  increase  his 
distress.  Though,  as  I  am  informed,  a  man  of  respectable  connections 
in  Scotland,  he  became,  as  a  merchant,  bankrupt  at  an  early  day  in  the 
West  Indies  and  is  now  in  indigence.  I  have  pressed  him  to  come  to 
me,  but  his  great  age  and  infirmity  have  deterred  him  from  the  change 
of  climate."  It  was  probably  in  the  letter  to  which  the  one  of  May  2, 
1797,  was  the  answer,  that  Hamilton  learned  the  first  definite  news  of 
his  Scotch  relatives.  —  ED. 


198  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

wealthy,  though  by  vicissitudes  to  which  human 
affairs  are  so  liable,  they  have  been  since  much 
reduced  and  broken  up.  Myself  at  about  sixteen 
came  to  this  country.  Having  always  had  a  strong 
propensity  to  literary  pursuits,  by  a  course  of  steady 
and  laborious  exertion,  I  was  able,  by  the  age  of 
nineteen,  to  qualify  myself  for  the  degree  of 
Bachelor  of  Arts  in  the  College  of  New- York,  and 
to  lay  the  foundation  for  preparatory  study  for  the 
future  profession  of  the  law. 

The  American  Revolution  supervened.  My  prin 
ciples  led  me  to  take  part  in  it;  at  nineteen  I  entered 
into  the  American  army  as  Captain  of  Artillery. 
Shortly  after  I  became,  by  invitation,  aid-de-camp 
to  General  Washington,  in  which  station  I  served 
till  the  commencement  of  that  campaign  which 
ended  with  the  siege  of  York  in  Virginia,  and 
the  capture  of  Cornwallis's  army.  The  campaign 
I  made  at  the  head  of  a  corps  of  light  infantry, 
with  which  I  was  present  at  the  siege  of  York, 
and  engaged  in  some  interesting  operations. 

At  the  period  of  the  peace  of  Great  Britain, 
I  found  myself  a  member  of  Congress  by  appoint 
ment  of  the  Legislature  of  this  State. 

After  the  peace,  I  settled  in  the  city  of  New- 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  199 

York,  in  the  practice  of  the  law ;  and  was  in  a  very 
lucrative  course  of  practice,  when  the  arrangement 
of  our  public  affairs,  by  the  feebleness  of  the  gen 
eral  confederation,  drew  me  again  reluctantly  into 
public  life.  I  became  a  member  of  the  Convention 
which  framed  the  present  Constitution  of  the 
United  States;  and  having  taken  part  in  this  meas 
ure,  I  conceived  myself  to  be  under  an  obligation 
to  lend  my  aid  towards  putting  the  machine  in 
some  regular  motion.  Hence  I  did  not  hesitate  to 
accept  the  offer  of  President  Washington  to  under 
take  the  office  of  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

In  that  office  I  met  with  many  intrinsic  diffi 
culties,  and  many  artificial  ones  proceeding  from 
passions,  not  very  worthy,  common  to  human 
nature,  and  which  act  with  peculiar  force  in  repub 
lics.  The  object,  however,  was  effected  of  estab 
lishing  public  credit,  and  introducing  order  in  the 
finances. 

Public  office  in  this  country  has  few  attractions. 
The  pecuniary  emolument  is  so  inconsiderable,  as 
to  amount  to  a  sacrifice  to  any  man  who  can  em 
ploy  his  time  to  advantage  in  any  liberal  profession. 
The  opportunity  of  doing  good,  from  the  jealousy 
of  power  and  the  spirit  of  faction,  is  too  small  in 


200  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

any  station,  to  warrant  a  long  continuance  of  pri 
vate  sacrifices.  The  enterprises  of  party  had  so 
far  succeeded,  as  materially  to  weaken  the  necessary 
influence  and  energy  of  the  Executive  authority, 
and  so  far  diminish  the  power  of  doing  good  in 
that  department,  as  greatly  to  take  away  the 
motives  which  a  virtuous  man  might  have  for 
making  sacrifices.  The  prospect  was  even  bad 
for  gratifying  in  future  the  love  of  fame,  if  that 
passion  was  to  be  the  spring  of  action. 

The  union  of  these  motives,  with  the  reflections 
of  prudence  in  relation  to  a  growing  family,  deter 
mined  me  as  soon  as  my  plans  had  attained  a 
certain  maturity,  to  withdraw  from  office.  This 
I  did  by  a  resignation  about  two  years  since,  when 
I  resumed  the  profession  of  the  law  in  the  city  of 
New- York  under  every  advantage  I  could  desire. 

It  is  a  pleasant  reflection  to  me,  that  since  the 
commencement  of  my  connection  with  General 
Washington  to  the  present  time,  I  have  possessed 
a  flattering  share  of  his  confidence  and  friendship. 

Having  given  you  a  brief  sketch  of  my  political 
career,  I  proceed  to  some  further  family  details. 

In  the  year  1780  I  married  the  second  daughter 
of  General  Schuyler,  a  gentleman  of  one  of  the 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  201 

best  families  of  this  country,  of  large  fortune,  and 
no  less  personal  and  political  consequence.  It  is 
impossible  to  be  happier  than  I  am  in  a  wife ;  and 
I  have  five  children,  four  sons  and  a  daughter, 
the  eldest  a  son  somewhat  past  fifteen,  who  all 
promise  me  as  well  as  their  years  permit,  and  yield 
me  much  satisfaction.  Though  I  have  been  too 
much  in  public  life  to  be  wealthy,  my  situation  is 
extremely  comfortable,  and  leaves  me  nothing  to 
wish  but  a  continuance  of  health.  With  this 
blessing,  the  profits  of  my  profession  and  other 
prospects  authorize  an  expectation  of  such  addi 
tion  to  resources  as  will  render  the  eve  of  life 
easy  and  agreeable,  so  far  as  may  depend  on  this 
consideration. 

It  is  now  several  months  since  I  have  heard 
from  my  father,  who  continued  at  the  island  of 
St.  Vincent.  My  anxiety  at  this  silence  would 
be  greater  than  it  is,  were  it  not  for  the  consider 
able  interruption  and  precariousness  of  intercourse 
which  is  produced  by  the  war. 

I  have  strongly  pressed  the  old  gentleman  to 
come  and  reside  with  me,  which  would  afford 
him  every  enjoyment  of  which  his  advanced  age 
is  capable;  but  he  has  declined  it  on  the  ground 


202  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

that  the  advice  of  his  physicians  leads  him  to 
fear  that  the  change  of  climate  would  be  fatal  to 
him.  The  next  thing  for  me  is,  in  proportion 
to  my  means,  to  endeavour  to  increase  his  com 
forts  where  he  is. 

It  will  give  me  the  greatest  pleasure  to  receive 
your  son  Robert  at  my  house  in  New- York,  and 
still  more  to  be  of  use  to  him ;  to  which  end,  my 
recommendation  and  interest  will  not  be  wanting, 
and  I  hope  not  unavailing.  It  is  my  intention  to 
embrace  the  opening  which  your  letter  affords  me 
to  extend  my  intercourse  with  my  relations  in  your 
country,  which  will  be  a  new  source  of  satisfaction 
to  me. 


FROM  WASHINGTON1 

MOUNT  VERNON,  August  2ist,  1797. 

My  dear  Sir,  —  Not  for  any  intrinsic  value  the 
thing  possesses,  but  as  a  token  of  my  sincere  re- 

1  This  letter  was  written  as  soon  as  the  scandal  of  the  Reynolds 
pamphlet  reached  Mount  Vernon.  Washington  knew  that  every  line 
he  wrote  was  more  than  likely  eventually  to  find  its  way  into  print :  he 
was  far  too  canny  to  condole  frankly  with  his  favourite  upon  the  mis 
fortune  of  being  found  out.  Nevertheless  his  sympathy  and  affection 
prompted  consolement,  and  he  administered  it  in  his  own  fashion.  —  ED. 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  203 

gard  and  friendship  for  you,  and  as  a  remembrance 
of  me,  I  pray  you  to  accept  a  wine  cooler  for  four 
bottles,  which  Colonel  Biddle  is  directed  to  for 
ward  from  Philadelphia,  (where  with  other  articles 
it  was  left,)  together  with  this  letter  to  your 
address.  It  is  one  of  four  which  I  imported  in 
the  early  part  of  my  late  administration  of  the 
government;  two  only  of  which  were  ever  used. 
I  pray  you  to  present  my  best  wishes,  in  which 
Mrs.  Washington  joins  me,  to  Mrs.  Hamilton  and 
the  family;  and  that  you  would  be  persuaded, 
that  with  every  sentiment  of  the  highest  regard, 
I  remain  your  sincere  friend, 

And  affectionate  humble  servant, 
GEO.  WASHINGTON. 


To   WASHINGTON 

NEW- YORK,  August  28th,  1797. 

My  dear  Sir,  —  The  receipt  two  days  since  of 
the  2ist  inst.  gave  me  sincere  pleasure.  The 
token  of  regard  which  it  announces,  is  very 
precious  to  me,  and  will  always  be  remembered 
as  it  ought  to  be. 


204  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

Mrs.  Hamilton  has  lately  added  another  boy  to 
our  stock;  she  and  the  child  are  both  well.  She 
desires  to  be  affectionately  remembered  to  Mrs. 
Washington  and  yourself. 

We  have  nothing  new  here  more  than  our 
papers  contain ;  but  we  are  anxiously  looking 
forward  to  a  further  development  of  the  negotia 
tions  in  Europe,  with  an  ardent  desire  for  general 
accommodation.  It  is  at  the  same  time  agreeable 
to  observe,  that  the  public  mind  is  adopting,  more 
and  more,  sentiments  truly  American,  and  free 
from  foreign  tincture. 

I  beg  my  best  respects  to  Mrs.  Washington, 
and  that  you  will  always  be  assured  of  the  most 
respectful  and  affectionate  attachments,  &c. 

To  THE  SECRETARY  OF   THE  NAVY 

NEW- YORK,  August  7th,  1798. 

Dear  Sir,  —  Capt.  Robert  Hamilton,  a  first 
cousin  of  mine,  is  desirous  of  employment  in  this 
country,  in  the  line  of  his  profession.  He  is  regu 
larly  bred  to  the  sea,  which  he  has  followed  since 
he  was  fourteen  years  old,  and  has  had  the  best  op 
portunities  of  improvement  —  among  others  that  of 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  205 

voyages  to  the  East  Indies.  He  has  also  com 
manded  a  ship  and  has  acted  as  supercargo.  I 
venture  to  recommend  him  with  confidence  as  well 
qualified,  and  every  way  worthy,  adding  to  skill  in 
his  profession,  the  sentiments  of  a  gentleman,  good 
morals,  intelligence,  and  prudence.  I  interest  my 
self  very  much  in  his  success,  and  shall  esteem  it 
as  a  personal  favour  to  myself  whatever  may  be 
done  for  his  interest. 


FROM  PICKERING1 

AugUSt  22,  1798. 

Dear  Sir, —  In  writing  freely  as  I  have  done 
yesterday  and  to-day  in  the  enclosed  letter  to  you, 
disclosing  what  is  contemplated  respecting  your 
military  station,2  far  from  being  apprehensive  of 
justly  incurring  blame,  I  consider  myself  as  perform 
ing  a  hazardous  duty ;  but  I  am  not  conscious  that 
the  risk  of  incurring  the  displeasure  of  any  man 
ever  deterred  me  from  doing  what  I  conceived  to  be 
my  duty.  My  anxiety  to  see  you  fixed  second  in 
command  has  arisen  from  the  opinion  which  for 

1  Secretary  of  State. 

2  Second  in  command  in  the  threatened  war  with  France. 


206  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

twenty  years  I  have  entertained  of  your  superior 
genius  and  talents  combined  with  integrity.  The 
integrity  of  your  competitors,  I  trust,  is  also  unim 
peachable.  General  Pinckney's  character  I  believe 
to  be  eminently  pure,  and  were  their  other  qualifica 
tions  equal,  my  solicitude  would  cease.  Nay,  there 
would  be  an  evident  propriety  in  their  preceding  you. 
My  proceeding  has  not  proceeded  from  any  claims 
you  have  on  my  friendship;  for  though  we  were 
never,  to  my  knowledge,  for  one  moment  at  enmity, 
our  acquaintance  was  never  so  intimate  as  in  the 
proper  strict  sense  of  the  word  to  make  us  friends. 
My  respect,  esteem,  and  attachment  have  been 
founded  on  the  qualities  of  your  head  and  heart, 
as  above  suggested ;  and  all  the  return  I  expected 
was,  the  regard  due  simply  to  an  honest  man. 
Viewing  me  as  entitled  to  this  character,  you  will 
not,  nor  would  any  one  who  knew  as  well  as  you  my 
frank  downright  disposition,  ascribe  to  flattery  the 
sentiments  I  have  expressed  of  you  in  our  corre 
spondence.  It  was  impossible  to  reason  the  subject 
without  expressing  them.  Thus  much  I  have 
thought  proper  to  add  in  justification,  and  as  an 
apology  for  the  enclosed,  and  for  any  similar  senti 
ments  in  former  letters. 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  207 

FROM  PICKERING 
(PRIVATE  AND  CONFIDENTIAL) 

TRENTON,  August  23rd,  1798. 

Dear  Sir,  —  Mr.  M'Henry1  has  just  handed  to 
Mr.  Wolcott2  and  me  his  letter  to  the  President3 
on  the  subject  of  calling  you  and  General  Knox 4 
into  immediate  service,  together  with  General  Knox's 
letter  to  him  in  answer  to  the  one  enclosing  his 
commission.  General  Knox's  letter  claiming  the 
first  rank,  I  see  has  been  transmitted  to  you ;  and  I 
was  glad  to  see  you,  in  your  answer  to  the  Secretary 
at  War,  tenacious  of  the  station  to  which  the 
Commander-in-Chief,  the  President  and  Senate, 
and  the  public  voice  have  placed  you.  I  did 
not  know  till  now,  that  General  Washington  had 
so  explicitly  written  you  respecting  your  taking 
rank  of  General  Knox,  whom  he  loved,  although  I 
had  formed  the  same  conclusion  from  his  silence 
concerning  him  in  his  letter  to  me,  which  I  now 
enclose,  and  which  Mr.  Wolcott,  only,  of  my  col- 

1  Secretary  of  War.     2  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.     3  John  Adams. 

4  Henry  Knox,  of  the  Revolution.  One  of  Hamilton's  biographers 
has  confounded  this  character  with  Hugh  Knox,  but  so  far  as  one  may 
judge  by  the  evidence,  they  were  not  even  related. 


208  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

leagues  has  seen.  The  original  letter  from  General 
Washington  to  you,  M' Henry  now  informs  me, 
was  by  him  shown  to  the  President ;  notwithstanding 
which  you  have  seen  where  you  would  have  been 
placed.  M'Henry  said  also,  that  General  Washing 
ton  made  your  appointment  to  be  the  sine  qua  non 
of  his  accepting  the  chief  command.  The  weight 
of  these  facts  seems  to  have  escaped  the  President's 
recollection,  or  he  would  not  desire  that  General 
Knox  should  take  rank  of  you.  It  is  plain  that 
General  Knox  has  conversed  with  him,  referred  to 
the  rule  of  the  former  war  to  determine  the  relative 
rank  of  officers  of  the  same  grade,  appointed  on  the 
same  day,  and  the  President  has  thence  concluded 
that  Knox  is  "  legally "  entitled  to  the  precedency. 
But,  as  I  yesterday  informed  you,  the  change  pro 
posed  to  gratify  General  Knox  and  the  President, 
is  by  the  latter  put  on  General  Washington's 
"  opinion  and  consent,"  and  such  consent,  surely, 
can  never  be  given  after  the  General's  letter  to  you, 
in  which,  as  M'Henry  says,  he  explicitly  told 
you,  that  he  passed  by  Knox  whom  he  loved,  to  give 
you  the  priority  of  rank.  Upon  the  principle  men 
tioned  by  General  Knox,  Hand  must  clearly  precede 
you,  as  well  as  Knox  and  Pinckney.  Lee,  I  presume, 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  209 

must  follow  you,  as  he  was  only  a  captain  of  horse, 
when  you,  as  aid  to  the  Commander-in-Chief,  had 
the  rank  of  lieutenant  colonel.  I  see  in  your  letter 
to  M' Henry,  you  refer  to  the  public  voice  in  your 
favour  —  and  justly,  as  I  yesterday  mentioned.  Yet 
the  President  imagines  that  "they£z>£  New  England 
States  "  would  be  offended  at  your  preceding  Knox. 
He  is  most  egregiously  mistaken;  it  was  among  New 
England  members  of  Congress  that  I  heard  you, 
and  you  only,  mentioned  as  the  Commander-in- 
Chief,  until  General  Washington  was  nominated; 
and  I  dare  to  say,  that  if  among  the  New  England 
delegates  a  vote  were  taken,  nine  in  ten,  if  not  the 
whole,  would  place  you  before  Knox. 

To  WASHINGTON 

NEW- YORK,  September  3oth,  1798. 

My  dear  Sir,  —  Your  obliging  favour  of  the 
24th  instant  has  duly  come  to  hand.  I  see  in  it 
a  new  proof  of  sentiments  towards  me  which  are 
truly  gratifying.  But  permit  me  to  add  my  request 
to  the  suggestions  of  your  own  prudence,  that  no 
personal  considerations  for  me  may  induce  more  on 
your  part  than  on  mature  reflection  you  may  think 


210  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LE1TERS 

due  to  public  motives.  It  is  extremely  foreign  to 
my  wish  to  create  to  you  the  least  embarrassment, 
especially  in  times  like  the  present,  when  it  is  more 
than  ever  necessary  that  the  interests  of  the  whole 
should  be  paramountly  consulted. 

To  KING1 

NEW  YORK,  October  2,  1798. 

My  dear  Sir,  —  Mr.  R.  delivered  me  your  letter 
of  the  3ist  of  July.  The  opinion  in  that  and  other 
of  your  letters  concerning  a  very  important  point, 
has  been  acted  upon  by  me  from  the  very  moment 
that  it  became  unequivocal  that  we  must  have  a 
decisive  rupture  with  France.  In  some  things  my 
efforts  succeeded,  in  others  they  were  disappointed : 
—  in  others  I  have  had  promises  of  conformity  to 
lay  the  foundation  of  future  proceeding;  the  per 
formance  and  effect  of  which  promises  are  not 
certainly  known  to  me. 

The  public  mind  in  this  country  continues  to 
progress  in  the  right  direction.  That  must  influ 
ence  favourably  the  present  Congress  at  the  ensu 
ing  session.  The  next  will  be  in  all  appearance 
intrinsically  better. 

1  Rufus  King,  minister  to  England. 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  211 

Of  the  executive  I  need  say  little ;  you  know  its 
excellent  dispositions,  its  general  character,  and  the 
composition  of  its  parts.  You  know  also  how 
widely  different  the  business  of  government  is 
from  the  speculation  of  it,  and  the  energy  of  the 
imagination  dealing  in  general  propositions  from 
that  of  execution  in  detail. 

There  are  causes  from  which  delay  and  feeble 
ness  are  experienced.  But  difficulty  will  be  sur 
mounted,  and  I  anticipate  with  you  that  this 
country  will  ere  long  assume  an  attitude  corre 
spondent  with  its  great  destinies  —  majestic,  efficient, 
and  operative  of  great  things.  A  noble  career  lies 
before  it. 

Why  does  not  Gouverneur  Morris  come  home  ? 
His  talents  are  wanted.  Men  like  him  do  not 
superabound.  Indeed  I  wish  that  you  were  here 
rather  than  where  you  are,  though  I  think  your 
position  an  important  one  at  the  present  juncture. 
But  we  want  to  infuse  more  abilities  into  the 
management  of  our  national  affairs. 

Governor  Jay  is  well.  He  and  all  your  friends 
continue  to  take  a  lively  interest  in  all  that  con 
cerns  you. 

Adieu.     Yours  affectionately. 


212  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 


FROM  A.    HAMILTON 

EDINBURGH,  29th  Oct.  1798. 

My  dear  Cousin,  —  I  received  a  few  days  ago  a 
letter  from  my  brother  Robert,  overflowing  with  the 
warmest  sensibility  of  the  many  important  obliga 
tions  for  which  he  is  indebted  to  both  you  and 
Mrs.  Hamilton.  Since  you  take  a  pleasure  in 
conferring  happiness,  it  will  no  doubt  afford  you 
satisfaction  to  learn  the  joy  which  your  friendly 
reception,  and  endeavour  to  effect  my  brother's 
appointment  into  the  American  Navy,  has  com 
municated  to  his  family  in  this  country.  The 
result  of  your  application  for  the  first-lieutenancy 
of  one  of  the  new  frigates  was  still  uncertain  when 
he  wrote;  but  without  anticipating  the  event,  I 
may  truly  assure  you  that  the  endeavour  has  im 
pressed  the  most  indelible  gratitude  on  our  minds, 
and  that  we  view  with  sensations  of  no  common 
kind  the  excellent  portrait  which  ornaments  our 
chimney-piece.  By  the  way,  father  has  been  in 
formed  by  an  American  gentleman  who  visited 
Edinburgh  lately,  that  it  is  a  striking  though  not 
a  flattering  likeness  of  the  original.  In  addition 


A   FEW  OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  213 

to  the  pleasure  I  received  from  a  fair  prospect  of 
a  permanent  provision  for  my  brother,  I  was  not 
a  little  pleased  that  it  removed  him  from  the 
mercantile  line  into  one  for  which  he  is  much  better 
qualified.  A  perfect  knowledge  of  seamanship, 
and  the  routine  of  the  naval  duty,  he  has  acquired 
both  from  long  and  various  experience,  and  from 
the  natural  bent  of  his  disposition,  which  early 
pointed  to  the  sea.  To  amass  a  fortune  by  traffic 
requires  talents  of  a  different  kind.  Without  affect 
ing  to  undervalue  these  talents,  it  may  be  granted 
that  eminent  success  in  the  mercantile  line  fre 
quently  depends  on  artful  schemes  and  devices, 
which  certainly  confer  no  claim  to  respect,  how 
ever  necessary  to  success ;  and  with  these  poor 
Robert  can  boast  but  little  acquaintance.  In  the 
navy  I  consider  him  as  in  his  element.  Courage, 
attention,  and  naval  skill  constitute  the  excellence 
of  a  sea  officer;  and  of  these  qualities  (unless  my 
partiality  deceive  me)  he  is  eminently  possessed. 
With  these  impressions,  you  will  conceive  of  what 
importance  his  admission  into  the  American  navy 
as  first  lieutenant  appears  to  me.  To  a  mind  like 
yours  the  pleasure  of  doing  good  is,  I  am  sensible, 
a  sufficient  impulse;  yet  as  my  brother  resides 


214  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

under  your  roof,  I  am  willing  to  hope  that  the 
unaffected  simplicity,  candour,  and  urbanity  of  his 
manner  will  in  time  produce  a  still  more  cogent 
motive  in  personal  friendship.  I  hope  you  will  for 
give  my  talking  in  this  manner  of  my  own  brother, 
yet  I  must  add  (even  at  the  risk  of  having  Mr. 
Shandy's  oddities  imputed  to  myself)  that  except 
ing  in  the  want  of  professional  pedantry,  Sterne's 
character  of  Uncle  Toby  seems  to  me  more  appli 
cable  to  my  brother  than  to  any  I  have  ever  been 
acquainted  with. 

In  reply  to  your  account  of  my  acquaintance, 
Mr.  Thomas  Law,  I  am  almost  tempted  to  exclaim 
in  the  words  of  a  statesman,  to  whom  a  manu 
script  plan  of  the  famous  projector  Law  had  been 
submitted  for  his  consideration,  Oh  la !  Oh  la ! 
I  am  seriously  concerned,  however,  to  learn  the 
embarrassed  state  of  his  affairs ;  though  what  could 
induce  a  man  of  his  fortune  to  embark  in  such 
extensive  speculations  is  not  easily  imagined. 
Your  letter  affords  us  some  hope,  though  but  a 
distant  one,  of  seeing  some  of  our  young  cousins 
in  this  country ;  wherever  they  are  they  will 
be  followed  by  our  kindest  wishes  for  their  pros 
perity. 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  215 

I  do  not  pretend  to  transmit  you  information 
political  subjects,  yet  they  occupy  at  present 
so  considerable  a  portion  of  the  thoughts  and 
:onversation  of  the  world,  that  they  are  not  easily 
avoided.  I  anticipate  the  pleasure  of  our  late 
glorious  victories  must  have  communicated  to  the 
true  friends  of  the  present  American  Constitution. 
The  destruction  nearly  total  of  the  Toulon  and 
Brest  squadron,  the  former  destined  for  Egypt, 
and  the  latter  for  Ireland,  must  have  given  the 
death-wound  to  the  French  navy.  The  rebellion, 
too,  which  lately  appeared  so  formidable  in  Ire- 
and,  utterly  extinguished,  and  only  revived  occa 
sionally  in  predatory  attacks  on  the  lives  and 
Droperties  of  individuals,  will  enable  the  ministry 
;o  open  the  parliament  with  unusual  eclat.  The 
Darty  of  opposition  has  lately  fallen  into  con 
siderable  discredit  from  their  conduct  at  the  trial 
of  O'Connor,  for  whose  principles  they  vouched 
n  the  most  unqualified  manner.  Yet,  notwith 
standing  these  high  attestations,  O'Connor  proves 
to  be  a  traitor,  actually  conspiring  to  introduce 

foreign  enemy  into  his  native  country,  at  the 
very  time  in  which  our  patriots  were  so  loud  in 
his  praises.  If  it  be  admitted  that  they  were 


2i6  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

unacquainted  with  O'Connor's  insidious  designs, 
the  vehemence  of  the  protestations  must  show 
how  open  they  are  to  deception,  and  argues  lit 
tle  in  favour  of  their  understandings.  Whether 
Buonaparte  has  reached  his  ultimate  destination, 
or  intends  to  prosecute  his  expedition  to  India, 
must  soon  appear ;  as  the  change  of  monsoon, 
which  happens  in  the  month  of  September,  will 
prevent  his  traversing  the  Indian  Ocean  —  unless 
he  has  previously  effected  his  passage.  There 
are  no  authentic  accounts  of  his  having  left  Cairo. 
I  beg  to  offer  my  best  compliments  to  Mrs.  Hamil 
ton,  and  that  you  will  ever  believe  me,  my  dear 

cousin, 

Faithfully  yours, 

A.  HAMILTON. 

FROM  PICKERING 

PHILADELPHIA,  February  20,  1799. 

Dear  Sir,  —  Since  I  wrote  you  on  the  Qth, 
Dr.  Stevens  has  been  appointed  Consul-General  of 
St.  Domingo,  and  will  probably  embark  before  the 
close  of  next  week.  If  you  have  written  fur 
ther  to  me  in  answer  to  my  letter  of  the  gth,  the 
letter  has  miscarried,  for  I  have  received  nothing. 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  217 

I  must  frame  Dr.  Stevens's  instructions  in  a  few 
days,  and  wish  to  inform  him  with  ideas  on  the 
point  I  stated.  This  cannot  be  done  officially, 
but  he  will  know  how  to  use  it. 


To   GENERAL   PINCKNEY 

PHILADELPHIA,  Dec.,  1799. 

Sir,  —  The  death  of  our  beloved  Commander- 
in-Chief  was  known  to  you  before  it  was  to  me. 
I  can  be  at  no  loss  to  anticipate  what  must  have 
been  your  feelings.  I  need  not  tell  you  what 
have  been  mine.  Perhaps  no  friend  of  his  has 
more  cause  to  lament  on  personal  account  than 
myself.  The  public  misfortune  is  one  which  all 
the  friends  of  our  government  will  view  in  the 
same  light.  I  will  not  dwell  on  the  subject.  My 
imagination  is  gloomy  —  my  heart  is  sad. 

Inclosed  is  an  order  relative  to  the  occasion 
which  speaks  its  own  object. 

With  the  sincerest  esteem  and  most 

Affectionate  regard,  I  remain,  sir, 
Your  very  obedient  servant. 


218  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 


To   MRS.   WASHINGTON 

January  12,  1800. 

I  did  not  think  it  proper,  madam,  to  intrude 
amidst  the  first  effusions  of  your  grief;  but  I  can 
no  longer  restrain  my  sensibility  from  conveying 
to  you  an  imperfect  impression  of  my  affectionate 
sympathy  in  the  sorrows  you  experience.  No  one 
better  than  myself  knows  the  greatness  of  your 
loss ;  or  how  much  your  excellent  heart  is  formed 
to  feel  it  in  all  its  extent.  Satisfied  that  you 
cannot  receive  consolation,  I  will  attempt  to 
offer  none.  Resignation  to  the  will  of  heaven, 
which  the  practice  of  your  life  insures,  can  alone 
alleviate  the  sufferings  of  so  heartrending  an 
affliction. 

There  can  be  few  who  equally  with  me  partici 
pate  in  the  loss  you  deplore.  In  expressing  this 
sentiment,  I  may,  without  impropriety,  allude  to  the 
numerous  and  distinguished  marks  of  confidence 
and  friendship  of  which  you  have  yourself  been  a 
witness,  but  I  cannot  say  in  how  many  ways  the 
continuance  of  that  confidence  and  friendship  was 
necessary  to  me  in  future  relations.  Vain,  however, 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  219 

are  regrets.  From  a  calamity  which  is  common  to 
a  mourning  nation,  who  can  expect  to  be  exempt  ? 
Perhaps  it  is  even  a  privilege  to  have  a  claim  to  a 
larger  portion  of  it  than  others. 

I  will  only  add,  madam,  that  I  shall  esteem  it  a 
real  and  a  great  happiness  if  any  future  occurrence 
shall  enable  me  to  give  you  proof  of  that  respectful 
and  cordial  attachment  with  which 

I  have  the  honour  to  be, 
Your  obliged  and  very  obedient  servant, 

A.  H. 

To    BAYARD1 

NEW- YORK,  January  16,  1800. 

I  was  glad  to  find,  my  dear  sir,  by  your  letter, 
that  you  had  not  yet  determined  to  go,  with  the 
consent  of  the  federal  party,  in  support  of  Mr.  Burr; 
and  that  you  were  resolved  to  hold  yourself  dis 
engaged,  till  the  moment  of  final  decision.  Your 
resolution  to  separate  yourself  in  this  instance  from 
the  federal  party,  if  your  conviction  shall  be  strong 
of  the  unfitness  of  Mr.  Burr,  is  certainly  laudable. 
So  much  does  it  coincide  with  my  ideas,  that  if  the 

1  James  Asheton  Bayard,  M.C.,  of  Delaware. 


220  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

party  shall,  by  supporting  Mr.  Burr  as  President, 
adopt  him  for  their  official  chief,  I  shall  be  obliged 
to  consider  myself  as  an  isolated  man.  It  will  be 
impossible  for  me  to  reconcile  with  my  motives  of 
honour  or  policy,  the  continuing  to  be  of  a  party 
which,  according  to  my  apprehension,  will  have 
degraded  itself  and  the  country. 

I  am  sure,  nevertheless,  that  the  motives  of  many 
will  be  good,  and  I  shall  never  cease  to  esteem  the 
individuals,  though  I  shall  deplore  a  step  which  I 
fear  experience  will  show  to  be  a  very  fatal  one. 
Among  the  letters  which  I  receive,  assigning  the 
reasons  pro  and  con,  for  preferring  Burr  to  J.,  I 
observe  no  small  exaggeration  to  the  prejudice  of 
the  latter,  and  some  things  taken  for  granted  as  to 
the  former,  which  are  at  least  questionable.  Per 
haps,  myself  the  first,  at  some  expense  of  popularity, 
to  unfold  the  true  character  of  Jefferson,  it  is  too 
late  for  me  to  become  his  apologist.  Nor  can  I 
have  any  disposition  to  do  it. 

I  admit  that  his  politics  are  tinctured  with  fanati 
cism  ;  that  he  is  too  much  in  earnest  in  his  democ 
racy  ;  that  he  has  been  a  mischievous  enemy  to  the 
principal  measures  of  our  past  administration ;  that 
he  is  crafty  and  persevering  in  his  objects ;  that  he 


A   FEW  OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  221 

is  not  scrupulous  about  the  means  of  success,  nor 
very  mindful  of  truth,  and  that  he  is  a  contemptible 
hypocrite.  But,  it  is  not  true,  as  is  alleged,  that  he 
is  an  enemy  to  the  power  of  the  Executive,  or  that 
he  is  for  confounding  all  the  powers  in  the  House 
of  Representatives.  It  is  a  fact,  which  I  have  fre 
quently  mentioned,  that,  while  we  were  in  the  ad 
ministration  together,  he  was  generally  for  a  large 
construction  of  the  Executive  authority,  and  not 
backward  to  act  upon  it  when  it  coincided  with  his 
views.  Let  it  be  added,  that  in  his  theoretic  ideas, 
he  has  considered  as  improper  the  participations  of 
the  Senate  in  the  Executive  authority.  I  have  more 
than  once  made  the  reflection,  that,  viewing  himself 
as  the  reversioner,  he  was  solicitous  to  come  into 
the  possession  of  a  good  estate.  Nor  is  it  true,  that 
Jefferson  is  zealot  enough  to  do  anything  in  pur 
suance  of  his  principles  which  will  contravene  his 
popularity  or  his  interest.  He  is  as  likely  as  any 
man  I  know,  to  temporize ;  to  calculate  what  will 
be  likely  to  promote  his  own  reputation  and  advan 
tage,  and  the  probable  result  of  such  a  temper  is 
the  preservation  of  systems,  though  originally  op 
posed,  which  being  once  established,  could  not  be 
overturned  without  danger  to  the  person  who  did 


222  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

it.  To  my  mind,  a  true  estimate  of  Mr.  Jefferson's 
character  warrants  the  expectation  of  a  temporizing, 
rather  than  a  violent  system.  That  Jefferson  has 
manifested  a  culpable  predilection  for  France,  is 
certainly  true ;  but  I  think  it  a  question  whether  it 
did  not  proceed  quite  as  much  from  her  popularity 
among  us  as  from  sentiment ;  and  in  proportion  as 
that  popularity  is  diminished,  his  zeal  will  cool. 
Add  to  this,  that  there  is  no  fair  reason  to  suppose 
him  capable  of  being  corrupted,  which  is  a  security 
that  he  will  not  go  beyond  certain  limits.  It  is 
not  at  all  improbable,  that  in  the  change  of  cir 
cumstances,  Jefferson's  Gallicism  has  considerably 
abated. 

As  to  Burr,  these  things  are  admitted,  and 
indeed  cannot  be  denied,  that  he  is  man  of  ex 
treme  and  irregular  ambition ;  that  he  is  selfish 
to  a  degree  which  excludes  all  social  affections ; 
and  that  he  is  decidedly  profligate.  But  it  is 
said,  ist,  that  he  is  artful  and  dexterous  to  ac 
complish  his  ends ;  2d,  that  he  holds  no  pernicious 
theories,  but  is  a  mere  matter  of  fact  man ; 
3d,  that  his  very  selfishness *  is  a  guard  against  mis 
chievous  foreign  predilections;  4th,  that  his  local 

1  It  is  always  dangerous  to  look  at  the  vices  of  men  for  good. 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  223 

situation  has  enabled  him  to  appreciate  the  utility 
of  our  commercial  and  fiscal  systems,  and  the 
same  quality  of  selfishness  will  lead  him  to  sup 
port  and  invigorate  them ;  5th,  that  he  is  now  dis 
liked  by  the  Jacobins ;  that  his  elevation  will  be  a 
mortal  stab  to  them,  breed  an  invincible  hatred  to 
him,  and  compel  him  to  lean  on  the  federalists ; 
6th,  that  Burr's  ambition  will  be  checked  by  his  good 
sense,  by  the  manifest  impossibility  of  succeeding 
in  any  scheme  of  usurpation,  and  that,  if  attempted, 
there  is  nothing  to  fear  from  the  attempt.  These 
topics  are  in  my  judgment  more  plausible  than 
solid.  As  to  the  first  point  the  fact  must  be 
admitted;  but  those  qualities  are  objections  rather 
than  recommendations,  when  they  are  under  the 
direction  of  bad  principles.  As  to  the  second 
point,  too  much  is  taken  for  granted.  If  Burr's 
conversation  is  to  be  credited,  he  is  not  very  far 
from  being  a  visionary.  He  has  quoted  to  me  Con 
necticut  as  an  example  of  the  success  of  the  demo 
cratic  theory,  and  as  authority,  seriously  doubts 
whether  it  was  not  a  good  one.  It  is  ascertained, 
in  some  instances,  that  he  has  talked  perfect  God- 
winism.  I  have  myself  heard  him  speak  with 
applause  of  the  French  system,  as  unshackling  the 


224  A   FEW   OF    HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

mind,  and  leaving  it  to  its  natural  energies;  and 
I  have  been  present  when  he  has  contended  against 
banking  systems 1  with  earnestness,  and  with  the 
same  arguments  that  Jefferson  would  use. 

The  truth  is,  that  Burr  is  a  man  of  a  very 
subtile  imagination,  and  a  mind  of  this  make  is 
rarely  free  from  ingenious  whimsies.  Yet  I  admit 
that  he  has  no  fixed  theory,  and  that  his  peculiar 
notions  will  easily  give  way  to  his  interest  But 
is  it  a  recommendation  to  have  no  theory?  Can 
that  man  be  a  systematic  or  able  statesman  who 
has  none  ?  I  believe  not.  No  general  principles 
will  hardly  work  better  than  erroneous  ones. 

As  to  the  third  point,  it  is  certain  that  Burr, 
generally  speaking,  has  been  as  warm  a  partisan 
of  France  as  Jefferson ;  that  he  has,  in  some  in 
stances,  shown  himself  to  be  so  with  passion. 
But  if  it  was  from  calculation,  who  will  say  that 
his  calculations  will  not  continue  him  so?  His 
selfishness,2  so  far  from  being  an  obstacle,  may  be 
a  prompter.  If  corrupt,  as  well  as  selfish,  he  may 

1  Yet  he  has  lately  by  a  trick  established  a  bank  —  a  monster  in  its 
principles,  but  a  very  convenient  instrument  of  profit  and  influence. 

2  Unprincipled  selfishness  is  more  apt  to  seek  rapid  gain  in  disorderly 
•    practices  than  slow  advantages  from  orderly  systems. 

[The  footnotes  to  this  letter  are  Hamilton1s.  —  ED.] 


A   FEW  OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  225 

be  a  partisan  for  gain.  If  ambitious,  as  well  as 
selfish,  he  may  be  a  partisan  for  the  sake  of  aid 
to  his  views.  No  man  has  trafficked  more  than 
he  in  the  floating  passions  of  the  multitude. 
Hatred  to  Great  Britain  and  attachment  to  France 
in  the  public  mind,  will  naturally  lead  a  man  of 
his  selfishness,  attached  to  place  and  power,  to 
favour  France  and  oppose  Great  Britain.  The 
Gallicism  of  many  of  our  patriots  is  to  be  thus 
resolved,  and  in  my  opinion,  it  is  morally  certain 
that  Burr  will  continue  to  be  influenced  by  this 
calculation. 

As  to  the  fourth  point,  the  instance  I  have 
cited  with  respect  to  banks,  proves  that  the  argu 
ment  is  not  to  be  relied  upon.  If  there  was  much 
in  it,  why  does  Chancellor  Livingston  maintain 
that  we  ought  not  to  cultivate  navigation,  but 
ought  to  let  foreigners  be  our  carriers  ?  France 
is  of  this  opinion  too ;  and  Burr,  for  some  reason 
or  other,  will  be  very  apt  to  be  of  the  opinion  of 
France. 

As   to    the    fifth    point,    nothing    can   be   more 
fallacious.      It    is    demonstrated    by    recent    facts1 
that   Burr  is  solicitous  to   keep   upon   anti-federal 
1  He  trusts  to  their  prejudices  and  hopes  for  support. 
Q 


226  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

ground  to  avoid  compromitting  himself  by  any 
engagements  with  the  federalists.  With  or  with 
out  such  engagements  he  will  easily  persuade  his 
former  friends,  that  he  does  not  stand  on  that 
ground;  and  after  their  first  resentment  they  will 
be  glad  to  rally  under  him.  In  the  meantime 
he  will  take  care  not  to  disoblige  them ;  and  he 
will  always  court  those  among  them  who  are  best 
fitted  for  tools.  He  will  never  choose  to  lean  on 
good  men,  because  he  knows  that  they  will  never 
support  his  bad  projects,  but  instead  of  this  he 
will  endeavour  to  disorganize  both  parties,  and  to 
form  out  of  them  a  third,  composed  of  men  fitted 
by  their  characters  to  be  conspirators  and  instru 
ments  of  such  projects. 

That  this  will  be  his  future  conduct  may  be 
inferred  by  his  past  plan,  and  from  the  admitted 
quality  of  irregular  ambition.  Let  it  be  remem 
bered  that  Mr.  Burr  has  never  appeared  solicitous 
for  fame,  and  that  great  ambition,  unchecked  by 
principle,  or  the  love  of  glory,  is  an  unruly  tyrant, 
which  never  can  keep  long  in  a  course  which 
good  men  will  approve.  As  to  the  last  point,  the 
proposition  is  against  the  experience  of  all  times. 
Ambition  without  principle  never  was  long  under 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  227 

the  guidance  of  good  sense.  Besides  that,  the 
force  of  Mr,  Burr's  understanding  is  much  over 
rated.  He  is  far  more  cunning  than  wise,  far 
more  dexterous  than  able. 

(Very  confidential)  —  In  my  opinion  he  is  in 
ferior  in  real  ability  to  Jefferson.  There  are  also 
facts  against  the  supposition.  It  is  past  all  doubt, 
that  he  has  blamed  me  for  not  having  improved 
the  situation  I  once  was  in  to  charge  the  govern 
ment.  That  when  answered  that  this  could  not 
have  been  done  without  guilt,  he  replied,  "  Les 
grands  ames  se  soucient  peu  des  petits  moraux;" 
and  when  told  the  thing  was  never  practicable, 
from  the  genius  and  situation  of  the  country,  he 
answered,  "  That  depends  on  the  estimate  we 
form  of  the  human  passions,  and  of  the  means  of 
influencing  them."  Does  this  prove  that  Mr. 
Burr  would  consider  a  scheme  of  usurpation 
visionary  ? 

The  truth  is,  with  great  apparent  coldness  he 
is  the  most  sanguine  man  in  the  world.  He 
thinks  everything  possible  to  adventure  and  per 
severance ;  and  though  I  believe  he  will  fail,  I 
think  it  almost  certain  he  will  attempt  usurpation, 
and  the  attempt  will  involve  great  mischief.  But 


228  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

there  is  one  point  of  view  which  seems  to  me 
decisive.  If  the  anti-federalists,  who  prevailed  in 
the  election,  are  left  to  take  their  own  man,  they 
remain  responsible,  and  the  federalists  remain 
free,  united,  and  without  stain,  in  a  situation  to 
resist,  with  effect,  pernicious  measures.  If  the 
federalists  substitute  Burr,  they  adopt  him  and 
become  answerable  for  him.  Whatever  may  be 
the  theory  of  the  case  abroad  and  at  home,  (for 
so  from  the  beginning  will  be  taught,)  Mr.  Burr 
must  become  in  fact  the  man  of  our  party ;  and 
if  he  acts  ill  we  must  share  in  the  blame  and  dis 
grace.  By  adopting  him,  we  do  all  we  can  to 
reconcile  the  minds  of  the  federalists  to  him,  and 
we  prepare  them  for  the  effectual  operation  of 
his  arts.  He  will,  doubtless,  gain  many  of  them ; 
and  the  federalists  will  become  a  disorganized  and 
contemptible  party.  Can  there  be  any  serious 
question  between  the  policy  of  leaving  the  anti- 
federalists  to  be  answerable  for  the  elevation  of  an 
objectionable  man,  and  that  of  adopting,  ourselves, 
and  becoming  answerable  for,  a  man,  who  on  all 
hands  is  acknowledged  to  be  a  complete  Catiline  ? 
'Tis  enough  to  state  the  question  to  indicate  the  an 
swer,  if  reason,  not  passion,  presides  in  the  decision, 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  229 

You    may    communicate    this    and    my    former 
letter  to  discreet  and  confidential  friends. 

Yours  very  truly, 


A.  H. 


To   MRS.    HAMILTON 


PORTSMOUTH,  June  21,  1800. 
Saturday. 

I  am  here,  my  beloved,  and  to-morrow  shall 
leave  it  for  Boston,  where  I  had  hoped  to  arrive 
on  Monday  evening.  The  next  morning  I  intend 
to  proceed  for  Providence  and  New  Port  where 
I  shall  take  passage  for  New-York  by  water.  If 
I  am  fortunate  in  the  passage  I  may  hope  to 
embrace  you  in  Eight  days  from  this  time. 

Most  tenderly  yours, 

A.  H. 

FROM   GOUVERNEUR   MORRIS 

WASHINGTON,  January  5th,  1801. 

My  dear  Sir,  —  I  have  received  your  favours  of 
the  24th  and  25th  of  last  month.  I  am  much 
obliged  for  both. 

The  convention  with  France  will  be  ratified 
sub  modo.  Such,  at  least,  is  my  opinion.  I  wish 


230  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

first  to  strike  out  the  2d  and  3d  article;  secondly 
to  fix  a  limitation  of  time.  The  2d  article,  by 
suspending  the  operation,  admits  the  existence  of 
former  treaties.  The  restitution  of  our  trophies 
stipulated  by  the  third,  may  damp  the  spirit  of 
our  country.  That  nation,  which  will  permit  profit 
or  convenience  to  stand  in  competition  with  hon 
our,  is  on  the  steep  descent  to  ruin.  If,  with  the 
exception  of  those  articles,  and  a  limitation  of  time, 
the  convention  be  mutually  ratified,  I  shall  think 
it  no  bad  bargain.  Will  the  French  consul  ratify 
it  when  so  curtailed  and  limited  ?  Perhaps,  if  his 
affairs  are  prosperous,  he  will  not.  Some  gentle 
men  propose  adding  a  clause,  to  declare  that  it 
shall  not  prejudice  former  treaties.  This  appears 
dangerous,  because,  if  afterwards  ratified  without 
that  clause,  such  ratification  may  be  construed  as 
an  assent  to  the  conclusion,  which  the  declaration 
was  intended  to  obviate. 

On  the  election  between  Mr.  Jefferson  and  Mr. 
Burr,  there  is  much  speculation.  Some,  indeed 
most,  of  our  Eastern  friends  are  warm  in  support 
of  the  latter,  and  their  pride  is  so  much  up  about 
the  charge  of  influence  that  it  is  dangerous  to 
quote  an  opinion.  I  trust  they  will  change  or  be 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  231 

disappointed,  for  they  appear  to  be  moved  by  pas 
sion  only.  I  have,  more  at  the  request  of  others 
than  from  my  own  mere  motion,  suggested  certain 
considerations  not  quite  unworthy  of  attention ; 
but  it  is  dangerous  to  be  impartial  in  politics. 
You,  who  are  temperate  in  drinking,  have  never, 
perhaps,  noticed  the  awkward  situation  of  a  man 
who  continues  sober  after  the  company  are  drunk. 
Adieu,  my  dear  Hamilton.  God  bless  you  and 
send  you  many  happy  years. 


To  LAFAYETTE 

NEW-YORK,  January  6th,  1801. 

I  have  been  made  happy,  my  dear  friend,  by 
the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  i2th  August 
last.  No  explanation  of  your  political  principles 
was  necessary  to  satisfy  me  of  the  perfect  consist 
ency  and  purity  of  your  conduct.  The  interpre 
tation  may  always  be  left  to  my  attachment  to  you. 
Whatever  difference  of  opinion  may  on  any  occa 
sion  exist  between  us,  can  never  lessen  my  con 
viction  of  the  goodness  both  of  your  head  and 
heart.  I  expect  from  you  a  return  of  this  senti 
ment  as  far  as  concerns  the  heart.  It  is  needless 


232  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

to  detail  to  you  my  political  tenets.  I  shall  only 
say,  that  I  hold,  with  Montesquieu,  that  a  govern 
ment  must  be  fitted  to  a  nation  as  much  as  a 
coat  to  an  individual ;  and  consequently,  what 
be  good  at  Philadelphia,  may  be  bad  at 
'aris,  and  ridiculous  at  Petersburg. 

I  join  with  you  in  regretting  the  misunderstand 
ing  between  our  two  countries.  You  will  have 
seen  by  the  President's  speech,  that  a  door  is 
again  opened  for  terminating  them  amicably  ;  and 
you  may  be  assured  that  we  are  sincere,  and  that 
it  is  in  the  power  of  France,  by  reparation  to  our 
merchants  for  past  injury,  and  the  stipulation  of 
justice  in  future,  to  put  an  end  to  the  controversy. 

But  I  do  not  much  like  the  idea  of  your  being 
in  any  way  implicated  in  the  affair,  lest  you  should 
be  compromitted  in  the  opinion  of  one  or  other  of 
the  parties. 

It  is  my  opinion,  that  it  is  best  for  you  to 
stand  aloof;  neither  have  I  abandoned  the  idea 
that  it  is  most  advisable  for  you  to  remain  in 
Europe  till  the  difference  is  adjusted.  It  would 
be  very  difficult  here  for  you  to  steer  a  course 
which  would  not  place  you  in  a  party,  and  remove 
you  from  the  broad  ground  which  you  now  occupy 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  233 

in  the  hearts  of  all.     It  is  a  favourite  point  with  me, 
that  you  shall  find  in  the  universal  regard  of  this 
country  all  the  consolations  which  the  loss  of  your 
own  (for  so  I  consider  it)  may  render  requisite. 
Believe  me  always, 
Your  very  cordial  and  faithful  friend, 

A.  H. 


To  KING 

NEW- YORK,  June  3,  1802. 

My  dear  Sir,  —  I  have  long  been  very  delin 
quent  towards  you  as  a  correspondent,  and  am  to 
thank  you  that  you  have  not  cast  me  off  altogether 
as  an  irretrievable  reprobate.  But  you  know  how 
to  appreciate  the  causes,  and  you  have  made  a 
construction  equally  just  and  indulgent. 

In  your  last  you  ask  my  opinion  about  a  mat 
ter  delicate  and  important,  both  in  a  public  and 
in  a  personal  view.  I  shall  give  it  with  the  frank 
ness  to  which  you  have  a  right,  and  I  may  add 
that  the  impressions  of  your  other  friends,  so  far  as 
they  have  fallen  under  my  observation,  do  not  dif 
fer  from  my  own.  While  you  were  in  the  midst 
of  a  negotiation  interesting  to  your  country,  it 


234  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

was  your  duty  to  keep  your  post.  You  have  now 
accomplished  the  object,  and  with  the  good  for 
tune,  not  very  common,  of  having  the  universal 
plaudit.  This  done,  it  seems  to  me  most  advis 
able  that  you  return  home.  There  is  little  prob 
ability  that  your  continuance  in  your  present 
station  will  be  productive  of  much  positive  good. 
Nor  are  circumstances  such  as  to  give  reason  to 
apprehend  that  the  substitute  for  you,  whoever  he 
may  be,  can  do  much  harm.  Your  stay  or  return, 
therefore,  as  it  regards  our  transatlantic  concerns, 
is  probably  not  material,  while  your  presence  at 
home  may  be  useful  in  ways  which  it  is  not  nec 
essary  to  particularize.  Besides,  it  is  questionable 
whether  you  can  long  continue  in  the  service  of 
the  present  administration,  consistently  with  what 
is  due  as  well  to  your  own  character  as  to  the 
common  cause.  I  am  far  from  thinking  that  a 
man  is  bound  to  quit  a  public  office,  merely  be 
cause  the  administration  of  the  government  may 
have  changed  hands.  But  when  those  who  have 
come  into  power  are  undisguised  persecutors  of 
the  party  to  which  he  has  been  attached,  and 
study  with  ostentation  to  heap  upon  it  every  in 
dignity  and  injury  —  he  ought  not,  in  my  opinion, 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  235 

to  permit  himself  to  be  made  an  exception,  or  to 
lend  his  talents  to  the  support  of  such  characters. 
If,  in  addition  to  this,  it  be  true  that  the  principles 
and  plans  of  the  men  at  the  head  of  affairs  tend 
to  the  degradation  of  the  government,  and  to 
their  own  disgrace,  it  will  hardly  be  possible  to 
be  in  any  way  connected  with  them  without 
sharing  in  the  disrepute  which  they  may  be  des 
tined  to  experience. 

I  wish  I  had  time  to  give  you  a  comprehensive 
and  particular  map  of  our  political  situation ;  but 
more  than  a  rude  outline  is  beyond  my  leisure. 

You  have  seen  the  course  of  the  administration1 
hitherto,  especially  during  the  last  session  of  Con 
gress  ;  and  I  am  persuaded  you  will  agree  with  me 
in  opinion,  that  it  could  hardly  have  been  more 
diligent  in  mischief.  What,  you  will  ask,  has 
been  and  is  likely  to  be  the  effect  on  the  public 
mind? 

Our  friends  are  sanguine  that  a  great  change  for 
the  better  has  been  wrought  and  is  progressive.  I 
suppose  good  has  been  done  —  that  the  federalists 
have  been  reunited  and  cemented ;  have  been 
awakened,  alarmed.  Perhaps,  too,  there  may  be 

1  Jefferson's,  —  ED. 


236  A   FEW  OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

some  sensible  and  moderate  men  of  the  opposite 
party  who  are  beginning  to  doubt.  But  I  as  yet 
discover  no  satisfactory  symptoms  of  a  revolution 
of  opinion  in  the  mass  — "  informe  ingens  cui 
lumen  ademptum."  Nor  do  I  look  with  much 
expectation  to  any  serious  alteration  until  incon 
veniences  are  extensively  felt,  or  till  time  has  pro 
duced  a  disposition  to  coquet  it  with  new  lovers. 
Vibrations  of  power,  you  are  aware,  are  of  the 
genius  of  our  government. 

There  is,  however,  a  circumstance  which  may  accel 
erate  the  fall  of  the  present  party.  There  is  certainly 
a  most  serious  schism  between  the  chief  and  his  heir- 
apparent;1  a  schism  absolutely  incurable,  because 
founded  in  the  hearts  of  both,  in  the  rivalship  of  an 
insatiable  ambition.  The  effects  are  already  appar 
ent,  and  are  ripening  into  a  more  bitter  animosity 
between  the  partisans  of  the  two  men,  than  ever 
existed  between  the  federalists  and  the  anti- 
federalists. 

Unluckily  we  are  not  as  neutral  to  this  quarrel 
as  we  ought  to  be.  You  saw,  however,  how  far  our 
friends  in  Congress  went  in  polluting  themselves 
with  the  support  of  the  second  personage  for  the 

1  Burr.  —  ED. 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 


237 


Presidency.  The  cabal  did  not  terminate  there. 
Several  men  of  no  inconsiderable  importance 
among  us,  like  the  enterprising  and  adventurous 
character  of  this  man,  and  hope  to  soar  with  him  to 
power.  Many  more,  through  hatred  to  the  chief, 
and  through  an  impatience  to  recover  the  reins, 
are  linking  themselves  to  the  new  chief  almost 
without  perceiving  it,  and  professing  to  have  no 
other  object  than  to  make  use  of  him;  while  he 
knows  that  he  is  making  use  of  them.  What  this 
may  end  in,  it  is  difficult  to  perceive. 

Of  one  thing  only  I  am  sure,  that  in  no  event 
will  I  be  directly  or  indirectly  implicated  in  a 
responsibility  for  the  elevation  or  support  of  either 
of  two  men  who,  in  different  senses,  are  in  my  eyes 
equally  unworthy  of  the  confidence  of  intelligent 
or  honest  men. 

Truly,  my  dearj^Jiii  piuupCLtTToTour  cour/try 
are  not  brilliant.  Tpa£-~*ftU3&  i^'fai1  frcmvjgtund.  At 
head  quarters  a  most  visionary  theory  presides. 
Depend  upon  it,  this  is  the  fact  to  a  great  extreme. 
No  army,  no  navy,  no  active  commerce  ;  national 
defence,  not  by  arms,  but  by  embargoes,  prohibi 
tions  of  trade,  &c. ;  as  Iittlegoverfli3aej*t  ao  possible 
the  pernicious  dreams,  which,  as 


238  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

far  and  as  fast  as  possible,  will  be  attempted  to  be 
realized.  Mr.  Jefferson  is  distressed  at  the  codfish 
having  latterly  emigrated  to  the  southern  coast,  lest 
the  people  there  should  be  tempted  to  catch  them, 
and  commerce,  of  which  we  have  already  too  much, 
receive  an  accession.  Be  assured,  this  is  no  pleas 
antry,  but  a  very  sober  anecdote. 

Among  federalists  old  terrors  are  not  cured. 
They  also  continue  to  dream,  although  not  quite  so 
preposterously  as  their  opponents.  All  will  be  very 
well  (say  they)  when  the  power  once  gets  back  into 
federal  hands.  The  people,  convinced  by  experi 
ence  of  their  error,  will  repose  a  permanent  confi 
dence  in  good  men.  Risum  teneatis  ?  Adieu. 

Yours  ever, 

A.  HAMILTON. 

To  OLIVER   WOLCOTT 

GRANGE,  August  14,  1802. 

My  dear  Sir,  —  When  you  were  last  in  town  I 
proposed  to  communicate  to  you  the  outline  of  a 
project,  by  which  I  think  you  may  enter  upon  a 
career  of  business  beneficial  to  yourself  and  your 
friends.  My  almost  constant  attendance  at  court 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  239 

ever  since  you  were  here,  has  retarded  the  com 
munication  which  I  shall  now  make. 

Let  a  commercial  capital  be  found,  to  consist  of 
100,000  dollars,  divided  into  shares  of  $100  each. 
A  subscriber  to  pay  in  cash  one-tenth  of  his  sub 
scription,  and  for  the  residue  7  per  centum  per 
annum.  It  will  then  be  his  interest  to  pay  up  as 
soon  as  he  can. 

The  subscribers  to  form  a  partnership,  under  the 
firm  of  Oliver  Wolcott  and  Co. ;  Oliver  Wolcott 
alone  to  have  the  signature  of  the  firm,  and  the  active 
management  of  the  affairs  of  the  company,  with  an 
allowance  of  #1500  per  annum  out  of  the  profits  for 
the  trouble  of  management,  besides  his  share  of 
profits  as  a  partner. 

Oliver  Wolcott  and  two  others  of  the  partners  to 
form  a  board  of  direction,  to  plan,  &c. 

Clerks  and  all  incidental  expenses  to  be  paid  out 
of  the  fund. 

The  objects  of  the  company: 

1.  Agencies  for  purchase  of  lands,  stocks,  &c. 

2.  Factorage  of   cargoes,  consigned  on  commis 
sion  ;  purchases  of  goods  on  commission  &c. ; 
in  brief,   "  the  business  of  a  commission  mer 
chant  merely." 


240  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S  LETTERS 

3.  Purchases  at  auction,  and  sales  of  the  articles 
purchased. 

4.  Loans  of  money  on   deposit  of  goods,  with 
a  right,  if  not  redeemed   in  time,  to  sell  on 
commission,  perhaps. 

Speculation  in  navigation  and  commerce  to  be 
excluded. 

In  a  company  thus  formed  under  your  manage 
ment,  I  should  be  willing  to  become  a  partner 
for  from  five  to  ten  thousand  dollars,  and  I  have  no 
doubt  that  the  capital  will  be  readily  formed  of 
confidential  and  trustworthy  characters,  who  would 
insure  great  credit  to  the  house.  I  am  also  confi 
dent,  that  when  it  should  be  known  in  Europe 
that  certain  characters  were  of  the  company,  it 
would  attract  a  good  portion  of  profitable  employ 
ment. 

I  will  enter  into  no  farther  detail.  If  the  project 
impresses  you  favourably,  come  to  New  York,  and 
we  will  give  it  form  and  finish,  and  prepare  for  the 
execution.  Do  not  lightly  reject  it. 


A  FEW  OF  HAMILTON'S  LETTERS  241 


To   MORRIS 

GRANGE,  September  4th,  1802. 

My  dear  Sir,  —  I  fully  intended  to  have  dined 
with  you  to-day,  but,  going  to  town  the  last  two 
days,  and  forgetting  that  I  ought  to  observe  a 
regimen,  I  have  brought  back,  in  some  degree,  the 
complaint  which  lately  annoyed  me,  and  which 
requires  to  be  well  watched.  This  must  deprive 
me  of  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you. 

I  send  schedules  of  the  papers  required  of  Tillier, 
all  which  have  been  put  into  my  hands;  the  bills 
to  remain  till  the  close  of  the  affair;  the  other 
documents  to  be  delivered  to  your  order. 

I  also  send  a  draught  of  the  trust  deed.  It  en 
deavours  to  comply  with  your  suggestion,  as  far 
as  can  be  done  without  running  foul  of  the  danger 
desired  to  be  avoided. 

Your  guests  are  invited  to  dine  with  us  Thurs 
day  next.  Will  you  make  one  ? 


242  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

To  GENERAL  C.   C.   PINCKNEY 

GRANGE  (New-York),  December  29,  1802. 

My  dear  Sir,  —  A  garden,  you  know,  is  a  very 
usual  refuge  of  a  disappointed  politician.  Accord 
ingly  I  have  purchased  a  few  acres  about  nine 
miles  from  town,  have  built  a  house,  and  am  cul-y 
tivating  a  garden.  The  melons  in  your  country 
are  very  fine.  Will  you  have  the  goodness  to 
send  me  some  seed,  both  of  the  water  and  musk 
melons  ?  My  daughter  adds  another  request,  which 
is  for  three  or  four  of  your  paroquets.  She  is  very 
fond  of  birds.  If  there  be  anything  in  this  quarter, 
the  sending  of  which  can  give  you  pleasure,  you 
have  only  to  name  them.  As  farmers,  a  new 
source  of  sympathy  has  arisen  between  us,  and 
I  am  pleased  with  everything  in  which  our  likings 
and  tastes  can  be  approximated.  Amidst  the 
triumphant  reign  of  democracy,  do  you  retain 
sufficient  interest  in  public  affairs  to  feel  any  curi 
osity  about  what  is  going  on  ?  In  my  opinion,  the 
follies  and  vices  of  the  administration  have  as  yet 
made  no  material  impression  to  their  disadvantage. 
On  the  contrary,  I  think  the  malady  is  rather 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LE1TERS  243 

progressive  than  on  the  decline,  in  our  northern 
quarter.  The  last  lullaby  message,  instead  of 
inspiring  contempt,  attracts  praise.  Mankind  are 
for  ever  destined  to  be  the  dupes  of  bold  or 
cunning  imposture.  But  a  difficult  knot  has  been 
twisted  by  the  incidents  of  the  cession  of  Louisiana, 
and  the  interruption  of  the  deposit  of  New  Orleans. 
You  have  seen  the  soft  turn  given  to  this  in  the 
message.  Yet  we  are  told  that  the  President,  in 
conversation,  is  very  stout.  The  great  embarrass 
ment  must  be  how  to  carry  on  the  war  without 
taxes.  The  pretty  scheme  of  substituting  economy 
to  taxation  will  not  do  here.  And  a  war  would 
be  a  terrible  comment  upon  the  abandonment 
of  the  internal  revenue.  Yet  how  is  popularity 
to  be  preserved  with  the  western  partisans,  if  their 
interests  are  tamely  sacrificed?  Will  the  artifice 
be  for  the  chief  to  hold  a  bold  language,  and  the 
subalterns  to  act  a  feeble  part?  Time  must  ex 
plain.  You  know  my  general  theory  as  to  our 
western  affairs.  I  hav^aba^a_ys  held  that  the  unity 
of  ou^~~m:pir#r^zx^fae  best  interest  of  our 
nation,  require  that  we  shall  annex  to  the  United 
States  all  the  territory  east  of  the  Mississippi, 
New  Orleans  included.  Of  course  I  infer  that, 


244  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

on  an  emergency  like  the  present,  energy  is  wis 
dom. 

Mrs.  Hamilton  joins  me  in  affectionate  compli 
ments  to  Mrs.  Pinckney. 


FROM   LAFAYETTE 

PARIS,  Germinal  the  loth,  nth  year. 

My  dear  Hamilton,  —  I  would  like  by  this  oppor 
tunity  to  write  you  a  long  letter,  but  have  been 
lying  on  my  back  for  two  months  past,  and  being 
three  weeks  to  come  doomed  to  the  same  situation, 
I  must  confine  myself  to  a  few  lines  written  near 
my  bed.  The  particulars  of  the  accident  and  its 
cure,  will  be  given  to  you  by  General  Bernadotte, 
whom  I  must  particularly  introduce,  and  his  lady, 
to  Mrs.  Hamilton  and  you.  Politics  I  will  not 
dwell  upon.  My  sentiments  are  so  well  known  to 
you  that  it  were  superfluous  to  say  what  I  think 
of  Senatus-Consulta  at  home,  and  settling  colonies 
in  North  America ;  yet  I  hope  this  late  affair  may 
still  be  arranged  to  mutual  satisfaction,  and  I  am 
sure  nobody  could  have  better  personal  dispositions 
than  my  friend  General  Bernadotte,  who,  to  those 
high  and  brilliant  abilities  which  have  so  much 


A   FEW  OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  245 

contributed  to  the  triumph  of  the  French  arms, 
joins  one  of  the  most  civic,  candid,  and  generous 
hearts  it  is  possible  to  meet  with.  I  know  he 
sets  a  great  value  by  the  approbation  of  the  citi 
zens  of  America,  and  is  particularly  desirous  of 
your  acquaintance,  and  properly  sensible  of  its 
advantages.  I  have  seen  in  the  papers  a  letter  from 
you  relative  to  the  transactions  at  our  York  Town 
redoubt,  in  which  I  have  found  my  friend  Hamil 
ton's  whole  character ;  and  the  more  pleased  I  have 
been  to  receive  it,  as  the  attack  had  been  some  time 
known  to  me,  but  on  the  proposal  of  some  friends 
to  write  to  you,  I  had  answered  you  were  on  the 
spot,  and  would  know  better  what  was  best  for 
me  to  be  done.  Adieu,  my  dear  friend;  my  best 
respects  to  Mrs.  Hamilton.  Remember  me  to  our 
friends.  I  know  you  are  most  friendly  interested 
in  my  private  concerns,  and  have  ever  depended 
upon  it. 

Most  affectionately   I  am   your  constant  friend, 

LA  FAYETTE. 


246  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

FROM  GOVERNOR  WALSTERSTORFF 

ST.  CROIX,  April  2oth,  1803. 

Dear  General,  —  When  I  received  your  favour  of 
the  5th  August,  I  certainly  did  not  think  I  should 
postpone  so  long  answering  it,  and  returning  you 
my  thanks  for  this  proof  of  your  kind  remembrance. 
I  shall  offer  you  no  apology  for  it,  because  there 
is  none  that  would  be  satisfactory  to  myself.  I  beg 
you  only  to  be  assured,  dear  General,  that  there  is 
not  a  character  in  America  for  whom  I  feel  a 
greater  regard  and  respect  than  that  of  General 
Hamilton,  whose  talents  will  no  doubt  soon  again 
be  called  into  action  to  the  honour  and  advantage 
of  his  country. 

You  would  oblige  me  very  much  by  sending  our 
friend,  Dr.  Stevens,  a  copy  of  Camillus'  letters,  and 
of  your  later  productions ;  the  only  copy  of  Camil 
lus'  letters  which  I  had,  I  once  lent  to  the  late 
Count  Bernstorff,  who  begged  of  me  to  let  him 
keep  it  in  his  library  as  a  classical  work  —  these 
were  his  expressions. 

Accept  my  sincerest  wishes  for  your  happiness 
and  that  of  your  family,  and  believe  me  to  be, 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  247 

with  the  greatest  regard,  and  the  sincerest  attach 
ment  &c. 

To  TALLEYRAND 

NEW  YORK,  March  25th,  1804. 

Sir,  —  Presuming  on  the  acquaintance,  from 
which  I  derived  much  pleasure  during  your  stay 
in  this  country,  I  am  going  to  take  a  very  great 
liberty.  It  concerns  a  near  relation  of  mine, 
Mr.  Alexander  Hamilton,  now  a  prisoner  of  war 
on  parole  at  Paris. 

His  brother,  from  whom  I  have  just  received 
a  letter,  informs  me  that  on  a  visit  to  the  con 
tinent,  as  a  traveller,  he  was  overtaken  by  the 
war  between  France  and  Great  Britain,  and  has 
been  since  that  time  in  the  situation  which  I 
have  mentioned.  He  is  a  Scotch  gentleman  of 
education  and  literary  acquirement,  who,  having 
amassed  a  pretty  handsome  fortune  in  the  East 
Indies,  had  returned  to  his  own  country  to  devote 
himself  to  the  pursuits  of  knowledge,  and  was 
induced  to  pass  over  to  the  continent  to  indulge 
his  curiosity,  with  a  particular  eye  to  the  very 
interesting  monuments  of  the  arts,  of  which  Paris 
is  now  the  depository. 


248  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

I  will  ask  nothing  specific  for  him,  because  I 
know  not  what  could  with  propriety  be  done,  con 
tenting  myself  with  merely  saying,  that  if  your 
interposition  can  procure  for  him  any  facility, 
indulgence,  or  favour,  it  will  confer  a  personal 
obligation  on  one  who  has  the  honour  &c. 


V 
THE   DUEL 


FROM  BURR 

NEW-YORK,  June  i8th,  1804. 

Sir,  —  I  send  for  your  perusal  a  letter  signed 
Charles  D.  Cooper,  which,  though  apparently  pub 
lished  some  time  ago,  has  but  recently  come  to 
my  knowledge.  Mr.  Van  Ness,  who  does  me  the 
favour  to  deliver  this,  will  point  out  to  you  that 
clause  of  the  letter  to  which  I  particularly  call 
your  attention. 

You  must  perceive,  sir,  the  necessity  of  a  prompt, 
unqualified  acknowledgment  or  denial  of  the  use 
of  any  expression  which  would  warrant  the  asser 
tions  of  Dr.  Cooper. 

I  have  the  honour  to  be  your  obedient  servant, 

A.  BURR. 


To  BURR 

June  2oth,  1804. 

Sir,  —  I  have  maturely  reflected  on  the  sub 
stance  of  your  letter  of  the  eighteenth  inst.,  and 
the  more  I  have  reflected  the  more  I  have  become 

251 


252  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

convinced  that  I  could  not,  without  manifest  im 
propriety,  make  the  avowal  or  disavowal  which 
you  seem  to  think  necessary.  The  clause  pointed 
out  by  Mr.  Van  Ness  is  in  these  terms :  "  I  could 
detail  to  you  a  still  more  despicable  opinion  which 
Mr.  Hamilton  has  expressed  of  Mr.  Burr."  To 
endeavour  to  discover  the  meaning  of  this  declara 
tion  I  was  obliged  to  seek  in  the  antecedent  part 
of  the  letter  for  the  opinion  to  which  it  referred 
as  having  been  already  disclosed.  I  found  it  in 
these  words:  "General  Hamilton  and  Judge  Kent 
have  declared  in  substance  that  they  looked  upon 
Mr.  Burr  as  a  dangerous  man  and  one  who  ought 
not  to  be  trusted  with  the  reins  of  government. 

The  language  of  Dr.  Cooper  plainly  implies 
that  he  considered  this  opinion  of  you,  which  he 
attributes  to  me,  as  a  despicable  one ;  but  he 
affirms  that  I  have  expressed  some  other,  more 
despicable,  without,  however,  mentioning  to  whom, 
when,  or  where.  'Tis  evident  that  the  phrase, 
"still  more  despicable,"  admits  of  infinite  shades, 
from  very  light  to  very  dark.  How  am  I  to 
judge  of  the  degree  intended  ?  or  how  shall  I 
annex  any  precise  idea  to  language  so  indefi 
nite  ? 


A  FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  253 

Between  gentlemen,  despicable  and  more  des 
picable  are  not  worth  the  pains  of  distinction ; 
when,  therefore,  you  do  not  interrogate  me  as  to 
the  opinion  which  is  specifically  ascribed  to  me, 
I  must  conclude  that  you  view  it  as  within  the 
limits  to  which  the  animadversions  of  political 
opponents  upon  each  other  may  justifiably  extend ; 
and  consequently  as  not  warranting  the  idea  of 
it  which  Dr.  Cooper  appears  to  entertain.  If  so, 
what  precise  inference  could  you  draw,  as  a  judge 
for  your  conduct,  were  I  to  acknowledge  that  I 
had  expressed  an  opinion  still  more  despicable  than 
the  one  which  is  particularized  ?  How  could  you 
be  sure  that  even  this  opinion  had  exceeded  the 
bounds  which  you  yourself  deem  admissible  be 
tween  political  opponents  ? 

But  I  forbear  further  comment  on  the  embarrass 
ment  to  which  the  requisition  you  have  made 
naturally  leads.  The  occasion  forbids  a  more  am 
ple  illustration,  though  nothing  could  be  more  easy 
than  to  pursue  it. 

Repeating  that  I  cannot  reconcile  it  with  pro 
priety  to  make  the  acknowledgment  or  denial 
you  desire,  I  will  add  that  I  deem  it  inadmissible, 
on  principle,  to  consent  to  be  interrogated  as  to 


254  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

the  justness  of  the  inferences  which  may  be  drawn 
by  others  from  whatever  I  may  have  said  of  a 
political  opponent  of  fifteen  years'  competition. 
If  there  were  no  other  objection  to  it,  this  is 
sufficient,  that  it  would  tend  to  expose  my  sin 
cerity  and  delicacy  to  injurious  imputations  from 
every  person  who  may  at  any  time  have  con 
ceived  the  import  of  my  expressions  differently 
from  what  I  may  then  have  intended  or  may 
afterwards  recollect.  I  stand  ready  to  avow  or 
disavow  promptly  and  explicitly  any  precise  or 
definite  opinion  which  I  may  be  charged  with 
having  declared  of  any  gentleman.  More  than 
this  cannot  fitly  be  expected  from  me ;  and 
especially,  it  cannot  reasonably  be  expected  that 
I  shall  enter  into  an  explanation  upon  a  basis 
so  vague  as  that  which  you  have  adopted.  I 
trust  on  more  reflection  you  will  see  the  matter 
in  the  same  light  with  me.  If  not  I  can  only 
regret  the  circumstance  and  must  abide  the  con 
sequences. 

The  publication  of  Dr.  Cooper  was  never  seen  by 
me  till  after  the  receipt  of  your  letter. 

I  have  the  honour  to  be,  &c., 

A.  HAMILTON. 


A  FEW  OF  HAMILTON'S  LETTERS  255 

FROM  BURR 

NEW  YORK,  June  21,  1804. 

Sir,  —  Your  letter  of  the  2oth  inst.  has  been 
this  day  .received.  Having  considered  it  atten 
tively,  I  regret  to  find  in  it  nothing  of  that  sincerity 
and  delicacy  which  you  profess  to  value. 

Political  opposition  can  never  absolve  gentlemen 
from  the  necessity  of  a  rigid  adherence  to  the  laws 
of  honour  and  the  rules  of  decorum.  I  neither 
claim  such  privilege  nor  indulge  it  in  others. 
The  common  sense  of  mankind  affixes  to  the 
epithet  adopted  by  Dr.  Cooper  the  idea  of  dis 
honour.  It  has  been  publicly  applied  to  me  under 
the  sanction  of  your  name.  The  question  is  not, 
whether  he  has  understood  the  meaning  of  the 
word,  or  has  used  it  according  to  syntax  and 
with  grammatical  accuracy :  but  whether  you  have 
authorized  this  declaration,  either  directly  or  by 
uttering  expressions  derogatory  to  my  honour.1 

1  One  may  imagine  the  grin  with  which  Burr  penned  these  high-flown 
sentiments,  for  visionary  and  sanguine  as  he  was,  there  is  no  reason  to 
believe  that  he  had  any  delusions  regarding  his  own  honour.  And  he 
had  never  been  under  any  delusions  regarding  Hamilton's  opinion  of 
him.  Had  he  been  sincere  in  seeking  redress,  from  motives  of  outraged 
honour,  or  even  for  purely  political  reasons,  he  would  have  challenged 
Hamilton  after  his  loss  of  the  Presidency,  four  years  before.  —  ED. 


256  A  FEW  OF  HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

The  time  "  when  "  is  in  your  own  knowledge,  but 
no  way  material  to  me,  as  the  calumny  has  now 
first  been  disclosed,  so  as  to  become  the  subject 
of  my  notice,  and  as  the  effect  is  present  and 
palpable. 

Your  letter  has  furnished  me  with  new  reasons 
for   requiring  a  definite  reply. 

I  have  the  honour  to  be,  sir,  Your  obedient 

A.  BURR. 


To  BURR 

NEW  YORK,  June  22,  1804. 

Sir, — Your  first  letter,  in  a  style  too  peremptory, 
made  a  demand,  in  my  opinion,  unprecedented  and 
unwarrantable.  My  answer,  pointing  out  the  em 
barrassment,  gave  you  an  opportunity  to  take  a 
less  exceptionable  course.  You  have  not  chosen 
to  do  it ;  but,  by  your  last  letter,  received  this  day, 
containing  expressions  indecorous  and  improper, 
you  have  increased  the  difficulties  intrinsically 
incident  to  the  nature  of  your  application. 

If  by  a  definite  reply  you  mean  the  direct  avowal 
or  disavowal  required  in  your  first  letter,  I  have  no 
other  answer  to  give,  than  that  which  has  already 


A  FEW   OF  HAMILTON'S  LETTERS  257 

been  given.  If  you  mean  anything  different, 
admitting  of  greater  latitude,  it  is  requisite  you 
should  explain. 

I  have  the  honour  to  be,  sir,  your  obedient 

ALEX.  HAMILTON. 


To  SEDGWICK 

NEW  YORK,  July  roth,  1804. 

My  dear  Sir,  —  I  have  received  two  letters  from 
you  since  we  last  saw  each  other  —  that  of  the 
latest  date  being  the  twenty-fourth  of  May.  I 
have  had  on  hand  for  some  time  a  long  letter  to 
you,  explaining  the  course  and  tendency  of  our 
politics,  and  my  intention  as  to  my  own  future 
conduct.  But  my  plan  embraced  so  large  a  range, 
that,  owing  to  much  avocation,  some  indifferent 
health,  and  a  growing  distaste  for  politics,  the 
letter  is  still  considerably  short  of  being  finished. 
I  write  this  now  to  satisfy  you  that  want  of  regard 
for  you  has  not  been  the  cause  of  my  silence. 

I  will  express  but  one  sentiment,  which  is,  that 
DISMEMBERMENT  of  our  EMPIRE  will  be  a  clear  sacri 
fice  of  great  positive  advantages,  without  any 
counterbalancing  good;  administering  no  relief  to 


25 8  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

our  real  disease,  which  is  DEMOCRACY;  the  poison 
of  which,,  by  a  subdiyi^iojn1_j^iJl--^ftl5r-*be  the*  more 
concentrated  in  each  part,  and  consequently  the 
more  virulent.^  King  is  on  his^way  to  Boston, 
where  you  may  chance  to  see  him,  and  hear  from 
himself  his  sentiments. 

God  bless  you. 

A.  H. 


APPENDIX 


"X 


OF  THE 

VNIYERSfTY 


FOUND  IN  THE  ROYAL  LIBRARY,  COPENHAGEN,  DENMARK 

"The  Royal  Danish-American  Gazette,"  Vol.  III.,  No.  234, 
Saturday,  October  3d,  1772.  Edited  by  THIBOU,  Christianstadt, 
St.  Croix. 

The  following  letter  was  written  the  week  after  the  Hurricane,  by  a 
Youth  of  this  Island,  to  his  Father ;  the  copy  of  it  fell  by  accident  into 
the  hands  of  a  gentleman,  who,  being  pleased  with  it  himself,  shewed 
it  to  others  to  whom  it  gave  equal  satisfaction,  and  who  all  agreed 
that  it  might  not  prove  uninteresting  to  the  Publick.  The  Author's 
modesty  in  long  refusing  to  submit  it  to  the  Publick  view,  is  the  reason 
of  its  making  its  appearance  so  late  as  it  now  does. 

ST.  CROIX,  Sept.  6,  1772. 

Honoured  Sir,  —  I  take  up  my  pen  just  to  give 
you  an  imperfect  account  of  the  most  dreadful  hur 
ricane  that  memory  or  any  records  whatever  can 
trace,  which  happened  here  on  the  3ist  ultimo  at 
night. 

It  began  about  dusk,  at  North,  and  raged  very 
violently  till  ten  o'clock.  Then  ensued  a  sudden 
and  unexpected  interval,  which  lasted  about  an 
hour.  Meanwhile  the  wind  was  shifting  round  to 
the  South  West  point,  from  whence  it  returned 
with  redoubled  fury  and  continued  so  till  near  three 
o'clock  in  the  morning.  Good  God !  what  horror 

261 


262  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

and  destruction  —  it's  impossible  for  me  to  describe 

—  or  you  to  form  any  idea  of  it.     It  seemed  as  if  a 
total  dissolution  of  nature  was  taking  place.     The 
roaring  of  the  sea  and  wind  —  fiery  meteors  flying 
about  in  the  air  —  the  prodigious  glare  of  almost 
perpetual  lightning  —  the  crash  of  the  falling  houses 

—  and    the  ear-piercing   shrieks  of   the  distressed, 
were  sufficient  to  strike  astonishment  into  Angels. 
A  great  part  of  the  buildings  throughout  the  Island 
are  levelled  to  the  ground  — -  almost  all  the  rest  very 
much  shattered  —  several  persons  killed  and  num 
bers  utterly  ruined  —  whole  families  running  about 
the  streets  unknowing  where  to  find  a  place  of  shel 
ter  —  the  sick  exposed  to  the  keenness  of  water  and 
air  —  without  a  bed  to  lie  upon  —  or  a  dry  covering 
to  their  bodies  —  our  harbour  is  entirely  bare.     In 
a  word,  misery  in  all  its  most  hideous  shapes  spread 
over  the  whole  face  of  the  country. —  A  strong  smell 
of  gunpowder  added  somewhat  to  the  terrors  of  the 
night;  and  it  was  observed  that  the  rain  was  sur 
prisingly  salt.     Indeed,  the  water  is  so  brackish  and 
full  of  sulphur  that  there  is  hardly  any  drinking  it. 

My  reflections  and  feelings  on  this  frightful  and 
melancholy  occasion  are  set  forth  in  following  self- 
discourse. 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  263 

Where  now,  Oh !  vile  worm,  is  all  thy  boasted 
fortitude  and  resolution?  what  is  become  of  thy 
arrogance  and  self-sufficiency?  —  why  dost  thou 
tremble  and  stand  aghast?  how  humble  —  how 
helpless  —  how  contemptible  you  now  appear.  And 
for  why  ?  the  jarring  of  the  elements  —  the  discord 
of  clouds  ?  Oh,  impotent  presumptuous  fool !  how 
darest  thou  offend  that  omnipotence,  whose  nod 
alone  were  sufficient  to  quell  the  destruction  that 
hovers  over  thee,  or  crush  thee  into  atoms?  See 
thy  wretched  helpless  state  and  learn  to  know 
thyself.  Learn  to  know  thy  best  support.  Despise 
thyself  and  adore  thy  God.  How  sweet  —  how 
unutterably  sweet  were  now  the  voice  of  an  ap 
proving  conscience;  —  then  couldst  thou  say  — 
hence  ye  idle  alarms  —  why  do  I  shrink?  What 
have  I  to  fear  ?  A  pleasing  calm  suspense !  a  short 
repose  from  calamity  to  end  in  eternal  bliss?  —  let 
the  earth  rend,  let  the  planets  forsake  their  course 
—  let  the  sun  be  extinguished,  and  the  heavens 
burst  asunder — yet  what  have  I  to  dread?  my  staff 
can  never  be  broken  —  in  omnipotence  I  trust. 

He  who  gave  the  winds  to  blow  and  the  light 
nings  to  rage  —  even  him  I  have  always  loved 
and  served  —  his  precepts  have  I  observed  —  his 


264  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S  LETTERS 

commandments  have  I  obeyed  —  and  his  perfections 
have  I  adored.  —  He  will  snatch  me  from  ruin  —  he 
will  exalt  me  to  the  fellowship  of  Angels  and 
Seraphs,  and  to  the  fulness  of  never  ending  joys. 

But  alas!  how  different,  how  deplorable  —  how 
gloomy  the  prospect  —  death  comes  rushing  on  in 
triumph  veiled  in  a  mantle  of  ten-fold  darkness. 
His  unrelenting  scythe,  pointed  and  ready  for  the 
stroke.  —  On  his  right  hand  sits  destruction,  hurling 
the  winds  and  belching  forth  flames ;  —  calamity  on 
his  left  threatening  famine,  disease,  distress  of  all 
kinds.  —  And  Oh!  thou  wretch,  look  still  a  little 
further;  see  the  gulf  of  eternal  mystery  open  — 
there  mayest  thou  shortly  plunge  —  the  just  reward 
of  thy  vileness.  —  Alas !  whither  canst  thou  fly  ? 
where  hide  thyself?  thou  canst  not  call  upon  thy 
God;  —  thy  life  has  been  a  continual  warfare  with 
him. 

Hark!  ruin  and  confusion  on  every  side.  —  'Tis 
thy  turn  next:  but  one  short  moment — even  now 
—  Oh  Lord  help  —  Jesus  be  merciful ! 

Thus  did  I  reflect,  and  thus  at  every  gust  of  the 
wind  did  I  conclude,  —  till  it  pleased  the  Almighty 
to  allay  it. —  Nor  did  my  emotions  proceed  either 
from  the  suggestion  of  too  much  natural  fear,  or  a 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  265 

conscience  overburdened  with  crimes  of  an  uncom 
mon  cast.  —  I  thank  God  this  was  not  the  case. 
The  scenes  of  horror  exhibited  around  us,  naturally 
awakened  such  ideas  in  every  thinking  breast,  and 
aggravated  the  deformity  of  every  failing  of  our 
lives.  It  were  a  lamentable  insensibility  indeed, 
not  to  have  had  such  feelings,  —  and  I  think  incon 
sistent  with  human  nature. 

Our  distressed  helpless  condition  taught  us  hu 
mility  and  a  contempt  of  ourselves.  —  The  horrors 
of  the  night  —  the  prospect  of  an  immediate  cruel 
death — or,  as  one  may  say,  of  being  crushed  by  the 
Almighty  in  his  anger  —  filled  us  with  terror.  And 
everything  that  had  tended  to  weaken  our  interest 
with  Him,  upbraided  us,  in  the  strongest  colours, 
with  our  baseness  and  folly.  —  That  which,  in  a 
calm  unruffled  temper,  we  call  a  natural  cause, 
seemed  then  like  the  correction  of  the  Deity.  —  Our 
imagination  represented  him  as  an  incensed  master, 
executing  vengeance  on  the  crimes  of  his  servants. 

—  The  father  and  benefactor  were  forgot,  and  in 
that  view,  a  consciousness  of  our  guilt  filled  us  with 
despair. 

But  see,  the  Lord  relents  —  he  hears  our  prayers 

—  the  Lightning  ceases  —  the  winds  are  appeased 


266  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

—  the    warring   elements   are    reconciled,    and    all 
things  promise  peace.  —  The  darkness  is  dispelled 

—  and  drooping  nature  revives  at  the  approaching 
dawn.     Look  back,  Oh,  my  soul  —  look  back  and 
tremble. —  Rejoice  at  thy  deliverance,  and  humble 
thyself  in  the  presence  of  thy  deliverer. 

Yet  hold,  Oh,  vain  mortal !  —  check  thy  ill-timed 
joy.  Art  thou  so  selfish  as  to  exult  because  thy 
lot  is  happy  in  a  season  of  universal  woe? — Hast 
thou  no  feelings  for  the  miseries  of  thy  fellow- 
creatures,  and  art  thou  incapable  of  the  soft  pangs 
of  sympathetic  sorrow  ?  —  Look  around  thee  and 
shudder  at  the  view. — See  desolation  and  ruin 
wherever  thou  turnest  thine  eye.  See  thy  fellow- 
creatures  pale  and  lifeless ;  their  bodies  mangled 

—  their  souls  snatched  into  eternity  —  unexpecting 

—  alas !    perhaps    unprepared  !  —  Hark   the    bitter 
groans   of   distress  —  see    sickness    and    infirmities 
exposed  to   the    inclemencies   of   wind   and   water 

—  see   tender   infancy   pinched   with    hunger    and 
hanging  to  the  mother's  knee  for  food !  —  see  the 
unhappy    mother's    anxiety  —  her    poverty    denies 
relief  —  her   breast    heaves    with   pangs    of    mater 
nal  pity  —  her  heart  is  bursting  —  the  tears  gush 
down  her  cheeks  —  Oh  sights  of  woe !  Oh  distress 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  267 

unspeakable!  —  my  heart  bleeds  —  but  I  have  no 
power  to  solace !  —  Oh  ye,  who  revel  in  affluence, 
see  the  afflictions  of  humanity,  and  bestow  your 
superfluity  to  ease  them.  —  Say  not,  we  have  suf 
fered  also,  and  with-hold  your  compassion.  What 
are  your  sufferings  compared  to  these?  Ye  have 
still  more  than  enough  left.  —  Act  wisely.  —  Suc 
cour  the  miserable  and  lay  up  a  treasure  in 
Heaven. 

I  am  afraid,  sir,  you  will  think  this  description 
more  the  effort  of  imagination,  than  a  true  picture 
of  realities.  But  I  can  affirm  with  the  greatest 
truth,  that  there  is  not  a  single  circumstance 
touched  upon  which  I  have  not  absolutely  been 
an  eye-witness  to. 

Our  General  has  several  very  salutary  and  hu 
man  regulations,  and  both  in  his  public  and  pri 
vate  measures  has  shown  himself  the  man. 


EXTRACT  FROM  THE  COMMON  RECORDS  OF  NEVIS,  1725- 
1746.     PAGE  429 

To  all  to  whom  these  presents  shall  come  John 
Fawcett  of  the  Island  of  Nevis  Planter  Sendeth 
Greeting. 


270  A  FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

Whereas  diverse  disputes  and  controversies  have 
arisen  and  been  between  the  said  John  Fawcett  and 
Mary  Fawcett  his  wife  touching  and  concerning  the 
maintenance  of  the  said  Mary  separate  and  apart 
from  her  said  husband  AND  WHEREAS  the  said 
Mary  did  lately  apply  herself  unto  His  Excellency 
William  Matthew  Esquire  Chancellor  and  Ordinary 
in  Chief  for  the  Leeward  Charribbee  Islands  to  be 
relieved  against  the  said  John  Fawcett  and  His 
Excellency  on  the  Petition  of  the  said  Mary  did 
issue  out  a  writ  of  Supplicavit  for  making  a  Pro 
vision  Maintenance  for  the  said  Mary  AND  WHEREAS 
since  the  issuing  out  of  the  said  writ  they  the  said 
John  Fawcett  and  Mary  Fawcett  have  mutually 
agreed  to  live  separate  and  apart  from  each  other 
during  the  residue  of  their  lives  AND  WHEREAS  she 
the  said  Mary  Fawcett  hath  joined  with  the  said 
John  Fawcett  in  the  absolute  sale  of  divers  pieces 
or  parcels  of  land  and  other  tenements  which  he  the 
said  John  was  in  possession  of  some  in  right  of  the 
said  Mary  and  others  in  right  of  the  said  John  in 
which  she  could  at  the  death  of  the  said  John  have 
claimed  a  dower  or  third  part  AND  WHEREAS  the 
said  Mary  in  lieu  of  the  said  dower  or  third  part 
hath  accepted  of  the  Bond  or  Obligation  of  William 


A  FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  271 

Maynard  of  Nevis  aforesaid  Esqr-  for  the  payment 
of  the  sum  of  Fifty  and  three  pounds  four  shillings 
current  money  annually  during  her  life  for  her 
separate  maintenance  and  allowance  as  a  full  satis 
faction  of  all  her  Dower  or  third  part  of  the  Estates 
of  the  said  John  Fawcett  both  real  and  personal 
which  he  shall  be  possessed  of  at  the  time  of  his 
death.  Now  KNOW  YE  that  the  said  John  Fawcett 
in  consideration  of  the  said  Mary  Fawcett's  accept 
ance  of  the  said  yearly  sum  of  Fifty  and  three 
pounds  four  shillings  and  for  diverse  and  other  good 
causes  and  considerations  him  thereunto  moving 
HATH  remised  released  and  for  ever  quitt  claimed 
and  by  these  presents  DOTH  for  himself  his  heirs 
exors.  and  admors.  remise  release  and  for  ever  quit 
claim  unto  the  said  Mary  Fawcett  her  heirs  exors. 
and  admors.  all  his  Right  Tytle  interest  property 
reversion  claim  and  demand  whatsoever  which  he 
might  could  or  may  hereafter  be  intituled  unto  of 
in  and  to  all  or  any  part  or  parcell  of  the  Estates 
either  real  or  personall  which  she  the  said  Mary 
Fawcett  may  be  intituled  unto  or  is  in  possession  of 
or  which  she  shall  or  may  at  any  time  hereafter  be 
intitled  unto  or  be  in  possession  of  either  in  her 
lifetime  or  at  the  day  of  her  death  or  any  person  or 


272  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

persons  in  trust  for  her  the  said  Mary  Fawcett. 
AND  FURTHER  the  said  John  Fawcett  doth  hereby 
for  himself  his  heirs  executors  and  administrators 
covenant  and  agree  with  the  said  Mary  Fawcett  her 
heirs  exors.  and  admors.  that  he  the  said  John 
Fawcett  his  heirs  exors.  and  admors.  shall  not  at  any 
time  hereafter  vex  sue  implead  or  cause  or  promise 
to  be  sued  vexed  or  impleaded  the  said  Mary  Fawcett 
her  heirs  exors.  or  admors.  for  or  on  account  of  any 
goods  chattels  lands  or  tenements  which  she  the 
said  Mary  Fawcett  shall  be  possessed  of  in  her  life 
time  or  any  person  or  persons  in  trust  for  her.  IN 
WITNESS  WHEREOF  the  said  John  Fawcett  hath 
hereunto  set  his  hand  and  seal  the  fifth  day  of  Feb 
ruary  in  the  year  of  Our  Lord  one  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  forty  and  in  the  fourteenth  year  of  the 
reign  of  King  George  the  Second. 

Sealed  and  delivered 
in  the  presence  of  JOHN  FAWCETT. 

GEORGE  WEBBE  senior. 

JAMES  DASENT. 

GEORGE  WEBBE  jun. 

NOTE.  —  Captain  Ramsing,  in  searching  the  archives  in  Copen 
hagen  for  me,  has  found  that  Levine's  name  was  spelt  in  the  following 
different  ways,  varying  doubtless  with  the  education  of  the  clerks : 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  273 

Johan  Michael  Lavien,  Johan  Michael  Lawien,  Johan  Michael  Lewien, 
Johan  Michael  Levin,  John  Michael  Lewin.  Captain  Ramsing  tells  me 
that  the  oldest  form,  Lawien,  is  probably  the  correct  one ;  and  it  was 
probably  anglicised  by  Hamilton  into  Lavine,  as  the  "w"  would  be 
pronounced  "v."  On  the  Islands  I  found  it  spelt  variously:  Lavion, 
Levine,  Le  Vine.  "Johan"  indicates  Danish  or  German  origin. 

I  am  also  informed  that  Levine  or  Lawien  probably  was  a  Jew  by 
birth,  but  must  have  changed  his  religion  —  perhaps  when  he  married 
Rachael  ?  —  or  he  would  have  been  written  down  in  the  records : 
"Levine  the  Jew." 

All  the  names  to  be  found  in  the  records  vary  quite  as  much  in  the 
spelling  as  Levine's.  —  ED. 


THE  FOLLOWING  ARE  SPECIMENS  OF  THE  NEWS 
PAPER  VERSE  AND  SCHOOLBOY  DOGGEREL 
WHICH  THE  DEATH  OF  HAMILTON  INSPIRED 


ON   THE   DEATH   OF   HAMILTON 

Oh !  woe  betide  ye,  Aaron  Burr ! 

My  mickle  curse  upo'  ye  sa' ! 
Ye've  kill'd  as  brave  a  gentleman 

As  e'er  liv'd  in  America. 


Wi'  bloody  mind  ye  ca'd  him  out, 
Wi'  practic'd  e'e  did  on  him  draw, 

And  wi'  deliberate,  murderous  aim, 
Ye  kill'd  the  flower  o'  America. 

A  nobler  heart,  an  abler  head, 
Nor  this,  nor  any  nation  saw ; 

He  was  his  Country's  hope  and  pride, 
The  darling  of  America. 

275 


276  A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS 

Wha  now,  like  him,  wi'  temper'd  fire, 

His  country's  "  sword  will  strongly  draw"; 

And,  'mid  the  furious  onset,  spare 
The  vanquish 'd  foes  o'  America  ? 

Wha  now,  like  him,  wi'  honest  zeal, 

Will  argue  in  the  Senate  ha', 
And  lighten  wi'  his  genius  rays, 

The  interests  of  America? 


Mild,  mild  was  he,  o'  tenderest  heart, 
Kind  and  sincere  without  a  flaw ; 

A  loving  husband,  father,  friend ; 
And  oh !  he  lov'd  America. 

Torn  by  a  murderer's  desperate  arm 
Frae  midst  his  friends  and  family  a', 

He's  gone  —  the  first  of  men  is  gone  — 
The  glory  of  America  ! 

Where'er  ye  go,  O  Aaron  Burr ! 

The  worm  of  conscience  ay  will  gnaw ; 
Your  haunted  fancy  ay  will  paint 

Your  bloody  deed  in  America. 


A   FEW   OF   HAMILTON'S   LETTERS  277 

But  though  ye  flee  o'er  land  and  sea, 
And  'scape  your  injur'd  country's  law, 

The  red  right  hand  of  angry  Heav'n 
Will  yet  avenge  America. 

O  save  us,  Heav'n  !  frae  faction's  rage ; 

Our  headstrong  passions  keep  in  awe! 
And  frae  ambition's  hidden  arts, 

Good  Lord  !  preserve  America. 


Oh,  Aaron  Burr,  what  have  you  done  ? 

You've  gone  and  killed  great  Hamilton. 
You  hid  behind  a  great  tall  thistle, 

And  killed  him  with  a  big  hoss  pistol. 


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